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https://www.tor.com/2016/07/26/the-temeraire-reread-league-of-dragons/#commentsTue, 26 Jul 2016 19:00:45 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=222138Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week. We conclude the reread this week with a spoiler discussion of the ninth and final volume, League of Dragons. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index (plus my non-spoiler […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week. We conclude the reread this week with a spoiler discussion of the ninth and final volume, League of Dragons. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index (plus my non-spoiler review of this book), or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

I’m so excited that I don’t have to pretend that I haven’t read League any more! (I have been so good, y’all. Not a single hint anywhere!) So gear up for spoilers for the entire series, and let’s begin!

Note: I’m not going to recap the chapters in detail because we’ve all just read them. Instead, I’m going to give a one-line summary of each chapter in a part, for orientation, and then go right into the discussion. Also, I’m so sorry for the ridiculous delay, I was away and then I was moderately unwell for too long—I’m fine but it absolutely wrecked my schedule. I hope the length of this post is some consolation.

PART I (Chapters 1-7)

Oh hey, the final version of the book has a map. (The galley didn’t.) Still nothing particular to say about it, though again feel free to point out whatever might be of interest.

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1: Napoleon escapes Russia, though his treasure doesn’t.

Chapter 2: In Lithuania, Laurence and Temeraire learn about the overall political situation and about the death of Laurence’s father.

Chapter 3: Temeraire throws a dinner for the Russian dragons and sets the local ferals looking for the Prussian dragons held captive in the French breeding grounds.

Chapter 4: The challenge: demand satisfaction, or, a depressed Laurence strikes Dobrozhnov, a drunk Russian who wished all dragons would have died in the plague, prompting a duel. A feral tells Temeraire she has seen the Prussian dragons in France.

Chapter 5: At the duel, Dobrozhnov fires early, wounding Laurence, and somehow survives despite the collective best efforts of the seconds. While Laurence and Dobrozhnov recover, Eroica and the rest of the Prussian dragons escape and arrive.

Chapter 6: Eroica tells Temeraire that Lien has threatened to destroy his and Iskierka’s egg; Temeraire leaves for China without a still-recovering Laurence.

Chapter 7: Temeraire is nearly killed by villagers and rescued by Tharkay, who tells him that the egg is on its way to France.

Commentary

So, as I said in the spoiler-free review, I do think this opening is a little slow and is also difficult emotionally, what with Laurence’s father’s death throwing him into another tailspin of regret and depression, which leads him into the duel. It’s all very carefully set up, so I’m not saying that it’s out of character; but I’m not sure it adds much to the big picture in a book that’s already long and a direct sequel to the amnesia book. From a strictly movement-of-pieces perspective, I don’t see any significant difference between Temeraire setting off for China alone or setting off with a non-injured Laurence to save the egg. From a thematic perspective, I’m not convinced that Dobrozhnov’s comments were necessary to lay the groundwork for the proposal to poison dragons later in the book, in light of what we saw at the end of the last book; Kutuzov’s comments in chapter 2 that “Half my officers are of the opinion we should bait them with poison and hunt them all down”; and Temeraire nearly being killed in Chapter 7. So, no surprise I’m sure, I’d have been perfectly happy if the duel subplot had been excised entirely.

(Would it have been too easy and happy an ending if Laurence and his father reconciled? Maybe. After all, Lord Allendale was a jerk who didn’t ever actually like or love Laurence. Does that mean that Lord Allendale had to die at this particular point, when Laurence is already feeling the futility of the war? Nope.)

Also, what was up with the Miss Merkelyte interlude? To me that felt like a bit of soap opera dropped in almost at random, and it was pretty jarring. It was a very pragmatic approach to marriage, which I suppose is useful as a reminder of differing cultural contexts, but since Hammond just did his best to deliberately kill Dobrozhnov for breaking the rules of the duel, with the full agreement of Dobrozhnov’s second, I was already pretty aware that the times, they were different.

(Obligatory Hamilton reference: if you’ve not seen the show, you can see “The Ten Duel Commandments” performed very close to how it’s staged in one of the live #Ham4Ham shows; it’s an intricately satisfying bit of work. I’m not sure it’s a good introduction if you haven’t heard the cast recording already, however.)

Having spoken of Laurence, I should turn to Temeraire. While he is certainly not free from acting on impulse when massively provoked—much like Laurence in this respect, in fact—I’m always glad to see him act with the cleverness and independence that he developed in Victory. A small example is his convincing Laurence to take repayment of the ten thousand pounds, lost so many years ago after Africa, by suggesting that he give it to Laurence in jewels instead; but he also sets the whole Prussian dragon escape in motion when he tries to come up with ways to get the Prussians to come back into the war rather than rely on diplomats. And the scene when Eroica and Dyhern are reunited is just wonderful.

Going back to the start: I thought it was fine to start with Napoleon’s retreat from Russia already in progress. I think the general outcome in our history is probably known widely enough that it wouldn’t be too surprising for most readers, and Victory of Eagles similarly began in medias res, so it’s not unprecedented for the series as a whole. Plus, we already knew from the end of book 8 that Napoleon’s advance was “the great gamble,” so all we really need to know about what happened is Laurence’s thoughts in Chapter 2: “If Napoleon had been able to feed the Russian ferals for another week, if the Chinese legions had reached the end of their own supply a week earlier; on so narrow a thread had the outcome turned.” (The legions went home before the start of the book.)

I was reasonably sure that they weren’t going to catch Napoleon, but I hadn’t even read the jacket copy so I wasn’t positive: there was still a remote chance that they might catch him but Lien might do something or some other problem might arise. Unlikely, I know, and I suspect I’m about the only person who thought it a possibility. It was useful for the next part, though, when they were pursuing the egg; I was shouting “trap!” at Temeraire right along with Laurence.

Timeframe and orientation: it’s the Tsar’s birthday in chapter 2, which makes it December 23, 1812. We are in the War of the Sixth Coalition (quick overview); I believe the coup attempt in Paris is either alternate history or sufficiently minor that it doesn’t come up on a first pass of searches. Assembling the Coalition is made more difficult than in our history because two of the Prussian royal children are hostage in Paris. (I’m puzzled by this divergence, as it ultimately has no effect that I can tell, but perhaps it’s just leftover from an abandoned plot idea.)

Might as well close this part on a little note of humor: Iskierka’s letter in Chapter 4 reports that “I had a word with [Wellington] when I came, about making Granby an admiral, and Wellington said he is quite certain Granby deserves all the honors which a grateful nation might possibly bestow.” I’m sure she didn’t get his full meaning, but I laughed.

Part II (Chapters 8-11)

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 8: Temeraire, Laurence, Tharkay, Iskierka, and Granby are captured in the Alps attempting to recover the egg.

Chapter 9: The French are incubating thousands of eggs; Laurence asks Napoleon to pardon Tharkay for spying, which Napoleon grants.

Chapter 10: At Fontainebleau, they meet with Anahuarque, Napoleon, and Junichiro, and learn that Napoleon has given dragons from all over the world the cure for the dragon plague.

Chapter 11: Laurence learns of the Concord from Prince Moshueshue; Ning hatches; and they all escape.

Commentary

A pretty packed and whiplash-inducing part—not a criticism, the characters are disoriented for good reason and we’re going along with them, though again I do think the first part suffers in comparison.

While I did expect treatment of dragons to be a major issue in the conclusion of the book, I did not expect the cure for the dragon plague to be significant again. Junichiro says that Napoleon has induced dragons from all over the world to listen to him by “a gift which commands both their interest and respect—the cure of the dragon plague.” Laurence had thought all the way back in Empire that he “could only hope that with the cure established in England and France, the quarrel of the two powers must deliver it to their respective allies also,” and then ordinary corruption would spread it the rest of the way (chapter 17). Thus, I had figured that the plague was no longer an active threat to dragons, especially since it’s been nearly six years since they brought the cure to France. But I think what must’ve happened is that Napoleon sent messengers to dragon populations that had never been exposed and said, there was this plague, the British tried to spread it, here is the cure in case it arises again. (In retrospect, I should’ve realized that active attempts to spread the plague are not necessary for it to still be a threat, given the number of North American dragons we’ve seen in far-flung corners of the world.) I could’ve stood a little more exposition on this, then, but it was a satisfying surprise as a callback.

Also, here is the payoff for Junichiro: his promise to Laurence included nothing about the security arrangements for Temeraire and Iskierka’s egg, and Laurence thinks, without contradiction from the narrative, “His intelligence had undoubtedly been responsible both for Napoleon’s forming the design of capturing the egg, and for its success.” So, all of you who were waiting to find out why Junichiro existed: there you go. (You might not think that was enough, or still dislike him, which is understandable. I get where he’s coming from enough to tolerate him, though I wouldn’t want to sit down to dinner with him or something.) Note that since Anahuarque is still in power at the end of the book, Junichiro may well have succeeded in tipping the balance of power in East Asia somewhat away from China.

Napoleon’s Concord is indeed a work of evil genius, as Laurence recognizes:

It was his stratagem in Russia refined and writ large: he would make all the ferals of Europe into enemies of the very governments who presently fed them in the breeding grounds or ignored their small depredations. That most of those ferals would be slaughtered in reprisal, or starve in the ensuing chaos, he would ignore, save when convenient for him to come to the aid of one or another band, as an excuse for making still more war upon his neighbors.

Certainly one could never fault the scope of Napoleon’s vision, or his daring, as shown by his inviting the Tswana despite, err, Rio. (Attempting to use Laurence as a puppet seems in a different category to me, since he didn’t invite Laurence.) It was really good to see Prince Moshueshue and his cool prudence again, but honestly I lost track of the Tswana until the end—or not lost track exactly, but didn’t spend a lot of time wondering what they were going to do, because there was so much else going on. If I had thought about it, I think the book would’ve given me enough reasons to be uncertain of what they would do: on one hand, egg stealing, which of course the Tswana very strongly disapprove of; on the other, a European power consulting them and offering to defend their right to all of Africa below the Sahara (and Brazil to boot).

Speaking of Napoleon, the first two parts continue to underline the key aspect of his character that will prompt Anahuarque’s actions at the end: his inability to acknowledge defeat. (See the drawn-out course of the War of the Sixth Coalition and the Hundred Days.) For instance, in Chapter 10, he steadfastly avoids talking of the war, and Laurence thinks that “There was something dreadful in this determined avoidance, as though Napoleon could not bear to recognize his own defeat and had instead to delude himself, even knowing as he must that his audience in this case knew the truth.” (And when he does mention it later, it’s only to chastise Laurence for allowing caution to rule him.) Chapter 10 also establishes that Anahuarque is receiving Talleyrand, who Napoleon “publicly called a shit in front of half the Marshals of France” and who Tharkay speaks of as motivated by money and still well-connected among those European nations with which France is at war. Which sets up expectations of a betrayal, which will not … exactly … be the case.

We also get a little more orientation about the overall war while at Fontainebleau: Tsar Alexander did send his troops forward (presumably Hammond’s million pounds came through), and the Prussians are joining the Coalition.

Let’s finish with existing characters before turning to the major new one. Iskierka is herself but more sensible about it, basically. There are a couple of occasions where she tells Temeraire to stop wallowing and be practical, and Temeraire is disconcerted to have no counter-argument. Granby says that “after Salamanca, even Wellington sent us a bullock from his own pocket, and a note I dare say I treasure better than a knighthood: I congratulate you on the disciplined performance of your beast and crew, and it was even more than half-deserved” (Chapter 11). I was initially a little dubious about the idea of Granby’s promotion to Admiral at the end of the book, but that reaction didn’t take Iskierka’s changed disposition sufficiently into account.

A lot of Tharkay in this section, of course; he’d been urgently summoned to Istanbul before the book opened, on what we now know was spy business, specifically persuading “a significant vezir” not to directly oppose any Chinese legions that come overland. But his very success gave one of his cousins, who he is suing, the chance to spread his name a little too widely. We’ll come back to the lawsuit, but I note that Tharkay’s visit to Istanbul was yet another reminder that he is “too much betwixt and between to belong to any settled place” (Chapter 8). (Also, why was I deprived of a huddling-for-warmth scene while they were literally sleeping in a cave of ice without a fire?! “[C]urled almost as awkward as Temeraire over their own knees” (Chapter 8, emphasis added), indeed.)

Okay, what I’ve been waiting for, and probably many of you too: Ning! I laughed so, so hard: she deliberately decided in the shell that she wasn’t going to act like her parents and she implemented that in just the right way to drive them both bonkers—and to show that she’s still clearly their kid. So great. (I personally never entertained the thought that she would join Napoleon while the Coalition was still fighting, the same way I never worried that her egg would be smashed: it just didn’t feel like that kind of series.) I am a little alarmed at her apparent intention to end war by establishing herself as a global tyrant (to jump ahead a little; see her conversation with Perscitia in Chapter 12), but I think the ending will forestall that, considering how many dragons joined the Coalition because they wanted a balance of power.

Also note that Iskierka got what she wanted: an egg with the divine wind and fire, which became companion to the Emperor of China! I’d previously wondered at the geopolitical implications if Celestials and Kaziliks could breed, given the shortage of Celestials. I think it might be harder for China to get Kaziliks from Istanbul once it’s known what kind of heightened offensive capacity that would be enabling, but maybe they’ll form an alliance, who knows. I’m getting very far afield now, almost as far as Perscitia when she tells Temeraire that one day humans “will cast a cannon that can take a Regal out of the sky with one shot fired,” and so they need to plan long-term (Chapter 12). She’s right, of course.

Finally, dragon tidbits: people who wonder about dragon numbers and how they get fed are going to be frustrated by the four thousand eggs, I predict—Granby even wonders at this in chapter 9, then says, “but I dare say he has worked out some cleverness for that, too.” And two breeds out of the Indian subcontinent are mentioned, “Nilgiri Cutters out of Madras” (Chapter 10) and unnamed middle-weights out of Bengal, both of which loathe the British for obvious reasons.

Part III (Chapters 12-14)

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 12: Laurence is appointed Admiral and fully reconciles with Jane; Temeraire learns of the Concord.

Chapter 13: There are two political dinners: the dragons draft the Dragon Rights Act of 1813, and Laurence attempts to soften the aviators he’s been saddled with.

Chapter 14: The Aerial Corps, and those accompanying it, depart for the Continent.

Commentary

And here we have the unprecedented break in the three-part structure, which is not the kind of massive restructuring that, say, moving the last Harry Potter book to multiple points of view or abandoning the school year framework would’ve been, but it’s still good that it was done when it was needed.

As the summaries suggest, this section is short but it lays a lot of groundwork and parcels out some of the happy endings early, too. Let’s start with those: Jane, finally! It’s so satisfying to see that she is finding professional satisfaction (she hasn’t had deal with interference “for a year and more”) and making society cope with her as she is—and changing society, too, with those dozen girls applying to the Corps after she held her dinner party (with Laurence’s mother! I wish so much I could’ve seen that), including a heiress.

Oddly, until I read this book (which was before I wrote the post on Black Powder War), I hadn’t consciously realized that their relationship status might’ve been in doubt? Of course she was justly angry with him for martyring himself in Victory, but since then their correspondence has been very friendly. But, as Jane correctly notes, Laurence has more “sensibility” than she does, and there had not been an opportunity before now for the question to really come up. And I love that the scene—the first actual sex scene in the series—is about his abandoning decorum, which “[h]e had been raised on” so “that it should come as easily as breathing even in the face of death and tragedy.” Yes, recognize that it’s okay to put aside this rigid control on your emotions, Laurence, it helps you as a soldier but it also got you shot in a duel because you couldn’t admit to yourself that you were depressed about the war and your father dying.

And so we get an early happy ending, or at least a moment of respite, in Chapter 13: Laurence thinks that “He could never have his father’s pardon; but he had Jane’s, and was content as he had not expected ever again to be.” Even if they’re not a grand romance, they’re still good together and I’m delighted they’re happy. (I also love that he thinks of his mother at this dinner, who had organized her political dinners “more akin to a military campaign than a convivial gathering.” Yes! The non-formal parts of politics are hard work, too!)

In other news related to the Rolands, we get as much resolution on Emily and Demane as we’re going to: Emily has been legitimized and will receive Jane’s titles, and Jane isn’t opposed to their marrying but recognizes the difficulty caused by their future separation (but doesn’t recognize, as Laurence does, the difficulty that society’s opinion will pose). So Jane keeps Demane and Kulingile and sends Granby and Iskierka to Laurence, which may give them more time to forget each other—or not, we just don’t know. They are awfully young and have had relatively little opportunity to meet other people; personally I’d like to think they could make it work, but I think it makes sense that it remains an open question at the end of the series.

On to the military side of things: it would be too good to be true to have Laurence appointed Admiral if it weren’t for (a) the Tsar requesting him, (b) the hope that China will send dragons, which are promised shortly after, (c) Wellington and Jane refusing to have Jane take the command (and how far we have come, that they would rather Jane!), and (d) the Admiralty loading him up with miserably obstructive captains as a precaution against him going completely off the rails (not that this works, as we see in the next part). So this strikes me as plausible, but I can respect if others find it just too much to imagine the Admiralty swallowing.

(Captains Poole and Windle were not named in the brawl at the start of Victory of Eagles, which Laurence remembers them participating in now, just to save you the trouble of looking it up. Oh, and finally Ferris gets reinstated, lifting a burden that Laurence has been bearing for a very long time.)

Moving to the dragons:

Temeraire doesn’t tell Laurence immediately about the Concord because he sees that Laurence is actually happy about being promoted to Admiral (and Jane, not that Temeraire knows that), and so he doesn’t want to burden him. Which is always a tricky thing, to keep stuff from people for their own good, but it was an admirably non-selfish impulse and in context shows that Temeraire is capable of successful independent political action—useful, given the ending! (I went looking for the last time Laurence laughed out loud; in chapter 7 of Blood of Tyrants he is “hard-put not to laugh” at the gossiping dragons, which doesn’t really count; if he laughed since getting to Australia, it’s not mentioned in searchable terms.)

Temeraire manages the dinner and drafting the Bill with the help of Perscitia, of course, and the smaller but still critical help of Ning. (I enjoyed these scenes immensely.) Perscitia is corresponding with John Wampanoag about trade, and I confidently expect them to be sitting atop a global trade empire in a hundred years. Let’s hope her political principles keep her from being evil about it.

Speaking of being evil, as I said above, Ning’s long-term plans do give me some concern, but as Laurence thinks in Chapter 13, her scheming ways might indeed suit her well to be Mianning’s companion, given that he is “much beset by conspirators.” Laurence also recognizes that China and Britain’s interests really only coincide, at present, in getting rid of Napoleon, and it is interesting to speculate how Ning’s presence will affect ongoing diplomacy (Mianning is crowned by the end of the book). She is very opposed to war, at least?

We get two new female crew members for Temeraire: a very young runner named Winters, and Lieutenant Challoner, who is the sibling of a previously-unnamed crewmember who’d died back in the first book at the Battle of Dover. But these welcome additions are also the occasion for a sneaky, sharp yank on my heartstrings: “although it was puzzling Rebecca [Challoner] should have described herself to him as the younger sister, when she was older than Dilly had been; but Temeraire put this aside; he did not like to think too much about the way time passed for people.” Put this together Temeraire’s difficulty in understanding that Laurence’s father died in his bed (Chapter 2), and I really feel that Temeraire’s implacable denial about human lifespans is going to make Laurence’s death even harder for him. I noted in Crucible that Temeraire didn’t want Laurence to be succeeded by his children, but I didn’t say then that my personal belief is that Temeraire will go without a captain after Laurence dies.

On a happier note, we see HMS Temeraire at the end of this section, on blockade duty and firing a salute to her namesake, which is a slight alteration from our history, where she was taken out of service as a warship in early 1812.

Part IV (Chapters 15-22)

Chapter Summaries

Chapter 15: The Battle of Berlin: the Coalition wins, but Poole (captain of Fidelitas) and Windle (captain of Obituria) deliberately hinder Laurence’s orders.

Chapter 16: Laurence distributes prizes to the dragons, as an end-run around their captains to motivate them; a Jade Dragon brings news that Dresden is under attack.

Chapter 17: The Battle of Dresden: Laurence’s dragons preserve the retreat, thanks to Fidelitas (despite Poole, we learn next chapter).

Chapter 18: The Chinese legions are delayed because Napoleon’s Concord is working; a Coalition officer proposes poisoning all unharnessed dragons in response, but ultimately the terms of the Dragon Rights Act of 1813 are agreed to by the Coalition.

Chapter 21: Napoleon is given the terms of his abdication and Laurence realizes that he had been betrayed by Anahuarque.

Chapter 22: Anahuarque tells Laurence her reasons, which he reluctantly accepts as good, and there are happy endings.

Commentary

Here’s another thing I did not realize was going to be important again: Anahuarque. Because whoa, look at her go.

Or, rather, not go: we know she can act boldly and decisively, but now we see that she has a keen awareness of the risks she runs and what losses are acceptable. And this is entirely in keeping with what we saw in Crucible, because her original Empire is still recovering from massive depopulation. According to The Napoleonic Wars: A Very Short Introduction, by 1813 (where we are now), nearly 50% of the age-eligible men in France were being drafted, and one of Napoleon’s prefects complained that “there will be no one left… capable of procreation and maintaining the population.” Anahuarque would certainly want to avoid that—especially if she could obtain generous terms, what Laurence characterizes as “terms offered to end a war, not ones dictated afterwards by its victors.” (Which will likely help forestall a great deal of political instability.)

So though Napoleon sees it as a betrayal, understandably so, I agree with the narrative that she did the right thing. Again, as is typical of the series, it’s a very generous portrayal of an antagonist, just as the portrayal of Napoleon continued to be.

(I do not think, as Jane and Laurence speculate, that Anahuarque will have him poisoned; at least not preemptively. If he starts getting restive, sure. But it’s very Jane to approvingly remark to Laurence, “That was almost uncharitable: we will make a cynic of you yet.”)

By the way: remember when Lien tells Temeraire what she intends to do to him, all the way back in Black Powder War?

“I will see you bereft of all that you have, of home and happiness and beautiful things. I will see your nation cast down and your allies drawn away. I will see you as alone and friendless and wretched as am I; and then you may live as long as you like, in some dark and lonely corner of the earth, and I will call myself content.”

Except for the “nation cast down” part, that’s what’s happened to her, exiled to the desolate St. Helena with Napoleon. I nearly got chills when I realized that.

Let’s turn to the Tswana. There’s a brief mention in Chapter 12 that Britain has “begun to open tentative relations with the Tswana” (after it finally abolished the slave trade the year before). But when I said, back in Empire, that “I have to believe the Scramble for Africa is going to be severely affected,” I was nervous about saying even that much, because by that point I didn’t just believe it, I knew it. Temeraire mentions reopening some ports to the Tswana dragons, who tell him,

“You do not suppose we are ever going to let any of you slavers back in our territory?”

“Oh!” Temeraire said, a little indignantly; he was not a slaver. “I am sure I have no idea why you wanted to be helpful, then, if you choose to lump us all together.”

Another dragon snorted. “Why should we have helped any of you? We didn’t want this Napoleon running things, and he would have, with a few thousand dragons under his hand. Now the rest of you can squabble it out among yourselves, and leave us alone.”

Which shows again that Napoleon sowed the seeds of his own undoing, and also sets up such fascinating potential for the alternate history of Africa. The whole world looks vastly different from ours at the end of the series, and I love it.

(If you also enjoyed the alternate history aspects here, by the way, you should check out the interactive narrative game 80 Days, which has won a ton of awards and deservedly so; it’s set later, naturally, and has a steampunk influence rather than a fantasy one, but it also is centrally interested in challenging colonialism and giving more narrative space to women and queer people. The writing is beautiful, it’s jam-packed with awesome stuff (the further afield you go, the wilder things get), and it’s more than worth the purchase price.)

I don’t have a lot to say about the obstructive officers, either the unnamed Prussian who proposes killing all the unharnessed dragons or Poole and Windle. They are the cause of one final bit of growth for Laurence, who resolves to actually join Napoleon if the poison plan is adopted. And while the prize-money division scene is rather uncomfortable, I suspect it’s a satire of the Naval prize money system, and it is a logical extension of past dragon behavior.

I also don’t have a lot to say about the nitty-gritty of battles, which are typically exciting. Here are a few notes about dragons: we get a bit of history in Chapter 15 at the Battle of Berlin, when crewed British dragons loop the wings of uncrewed French dragons, a “technique [that] had been used in the medieval age by the dragon-slayers of the Norman court, who mounted on their own beasts had undertaken a ruthless culling of the wild beasts of the British Isles.” It only works here because the French dragons are young and inexperienced, but it’s a pretty brutal image. And hey: Xenicas appear on the page, after not being mentioned since book one! Like Longwings, they require female captains, and they are “the heaviest of the fast dragons” (Chapter 17). Finally, Temeraire’s Incan attitude of caring about his crew results in their increased loyalty, which can only improve the Corps overall if it spreads.

I believe the Reichenbach of the final battle is Reichenbach/Oberlausitz, which is east of Dresden and Bautzen, and which does not appear to have been the site of any significant Napoleonic War battles in our timeline; I wonder if the name was too good to pass up? It takes place shortly after the Battle of Vitoria on June 21, 1813, which was a major Coalition victory in Spain, and which Minnow brings word of.

I love the arrival of the Tswana:

But the movement was accompanied from some distant place over the hills by a steady deep drum-beat, growing louder and louder even above the cannon-roars, a great pounding noise that resonated peculiarly in Temeraire’s skull as it climbed, and climbed still further. The other dragons around him all paused, turning as they looked back towards the French rear. Shadows were forming out of the deep bank of grey clouds to the west, and then the clouds were streaming away as a wide row of dragons was suddenly pouring down over the western slope directly at Napoleon’s rear: dragons in every vivid color, and on every back a drummer sat, pounding furiously to keep the time of their wings.

It’s not “Great horns of the North wildly blowing,” but between the music, the timely and unlooked-for aid, and the sudden dissipation of clouds, well, I might be overreading things because of who I am, but I enjoyed the heck out of the effect, whether or not it was intended as a tip of the hat to Tolkien.

Which leads us neatly into happy endings! (*looks at word count, despairs* Just imagine if I’d done proper chapter summaries!)

Laurence is given a baronetcy; Jane is now a Duchess—she has a coronet, and Tharkay refers to her as “Her Grace.” (In Tongues of Serpents, chapter 3, she writes to Laurence that “it is a great benefit they none of them know whether to say Milady or Sir, and as soon as they have arrived at a Decision, they change it again. I only hope they may not make me a Duchess to make themselves easy by saying Your Grace; it would not suit half so well.” So alas, she doesn’t get that wish, but it seems like her position is strong enough now that she doesn’t need their discombobulation to get things does.)

Laurence gets some quiet closure with his family and Edith, and gets to see for himself how dragons are integrating into Britain’s economic life, with “a thriving clan of Yellow Reapers established just outside Nottingham, who were now a regular sight throughout the city and the surrounding countryside.” And he retires! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that when I was trying to imagine what a happy ending would look like for him; he was so sick of being under bad orders, but hesitated taking a letter of marque to act for themselves, and yet he thought at the start of Crucible that “[i]f nothing else, Temeraire was not made to lie idle, in a peaceful valley at the far ends of the earth.” So I couldn’t see how those would be all reconciled, and here it is: remove themselves from a situation where they’re required to work together and under others’ orders, let Temeraire do what he’s good at, and let Laurence enjoy the peace in Britain, which he has longed for throughout the series (while still helping Temeraire).

And that’s thanks to Tharkay, who is now rich and has a Parliamentary dragon seat on his estates. His lawsuit is the retcon I’m pretty sure I spotted: this book says that he commenced it with “the prize-money paid him, for having recruited some twenty feral beasts out of the Pamirs to Britain’s service” (Chapter 11), which means sometime after Chapter 1 of Empire, where he hadn’t been paid his prize-money yet. The impression given before this book is that Tharkay lost the lawsuit before the series started; so the idea that he was able to revive it when he got his prize-money in Empire is a bit inconsistent, but not glaringly so.

What calls more attention to the retcon is Laurence, who gave testimony on Tharkay’s behalf before his treason (per Chapter 22). But in Chapter 12 of Victory, Laurence knows only that “Tharkay had been embroiled in a law-suit here, although none of the details” (emphasis added). I suppose it’s theoretically possible that Laurence would give testimony in a lawsuit, presumably about Tharkay’s character and service?, without knowing why, but I admit that it’s a little hard for me to believe. But, again, not only is Temeraire going to be in Parliament, but he and Laurence are going to live with Tharkay, which is a gift to Laurence/Tharkay shippers like me, so really I don’t care.

I have seen at least one person disappointed that Laurence/Tharkay is not canon. I respect that reaction, but I also see good reason for the series to take this route. Laurence’s obligations to Temeraire and his relationship to authority are related questions that are central to the series; and entering into a relationship with another man would be a character development journey of comparable magnitude, so it’s hard to see where there would be room for it. Of course, as soon as I wrote that, I thought, “This is what the amnesia plot should’ve been!” But regardless, the series has been deliberately not focused on romantic relationships, and I think that making Laurence/Tharkay canon would shift that focus substantially—and as much as I do ship it, I like the balance of the series as it is.

And that brings us to the end of the book and of the series! Which calls for some sum-up thoughts.

At the start of the reread, I said that I liked Laurence but he didn’t live and breathe for me in the same way that, say, Jack Aubrey or even Temeraire did. The reread has given me a better appreciation for, and understanding of, his character; he still doesn’t take up as much space in the room, but he’s a lot more three-dimensional to me now. So that’s one practical benefit of the reread.

Another is being reminded how great the prose frequently is; I haven’t had the time to dissect paragraphs the way I did Tolkien, but I hope that I was able to highlight some particularly effective passages through what I chose to quote.

And finally, forcing myself to dig into the history underlying the alternate history was not only valuable in and of itself, but made the series more impressive. I’m never going to care very much about land wars in Europe or Asia, because that’s just not my speed, but it was good to fill in the details of how alternate things get.

How about you all? What did you think about the ending, is there anything you would have liked to see resolved or not resolved or resolved differently? Is there anything we haven’t talked about enough here? Would you like a nice comfortable gossip about the characters? (I would!) Let me know what you think, I really do want to hear it.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/07/26/the-temeraire-reread-league-of-dragons/feed/15The Temeraire Reread: Blood of Tyrantshttps://www.tor.com/2016/06/08/the-temeraire-reread-blood-of-tyrants/
https://www.tor.com/2016/06/08/the-temeraire-reread-blood-of-tyrants/#commentsWed, 08 Jun 2016 19:00:59 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=216965Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th (next week!). We continue this week with the eighth novel, Blood of Tyrants, in which we get involved […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th (next week!). We continue this week with the eighth novel, Blood of Tyrants, in which we get involved in a land war in Asia. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I’ve read it, but I’m pretending I haven’t). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

PART I (Chapters 1-7)

(There’s a map; I don’t have anything to say about it. If I’m overlooking something interesting, do let me know.)

Chapter 1

Laurence wakes on a beach and takes some time to even remember his own name. He is rescued and taken to a house, where he discovers that he has apparently lost his memory: he is in Japan, he has no idea why, and his reflection “might have aged years since he has seen himself last.” His host is courteous but clearly keeping him confined.

Shifting to Temeraire’s point-of-view, the dragon transport Potentate had grounded on rocks in a storm and Laurence had been swept overboard. Everyone but Temeraire believes that Laurence is dead. Temeraire intends to land and look for him, ignoring that foreign visitors are allowed only in Nagasaki. But Iskierka tells him he cannot leave, because the Potentate is still stuck on the rocks and she is about to have their egg.

Chapter 2

Laurence asks his host, Kaneko Hiromasa, to let him leave. Kaneko refers to a vow he made, to be of true service to Laurence, and says that he must write to “Lady Arikawa” and apologize for “undertak[ing] an oath which might expose her to charges of disobedience to the bakufu” (government). Laurence, therefore, must wait. Laurence asks for his clothes back and does not understand why they included an aviator’s coat, just as he did not understand why his sword (held by Kaneko) was of Chinese make. Laurence steals the sword from Kaneko’s office in the night, and is looking for a way out when he hears a dragon arrive.

Temeraire realizes that Laurence would consider it Temeraire’s duty to make sure the egg was safe before he went to look for Laurence. They decide to lever the ship off the rocks, and the dragons go to the shore to fell trees for this purpose. But they are attacked by a positively enormous Sui-Riu water-spouting dragon in the harbor. Though Temeraire’s divine wind does little against the Sui-Riu, the assembly of the entire formation causes him to withdraw.

Chapter 3

Laurence hides the sword outside and is taken to be interrogated. He does not say that he has lost his memory because he does not think he will be believed. Laurence learns that three years ago, the British ship Phaeton fired on Nagasaki and was destroyed, meaning that the bakufu were suspicious of the British even before a Longwing’s formation came and fought the Sui-Riu, Lord Jinai.

Laurence has a private conversation with Kaneko and confesses his amnesia. Laurence’s horror at hearing that the European year is 1812, eight years after his last memory, convinces Kaneko that he is being honest. Kaneko’s vow was to serve the person he found on the road with honor, and thus it would violate his vow for Laurence to be treated as a criminal. Lady Arikawa suggests that Laurence should be permitted to commit seppuku, but Laurence rejects the offer on religious grounds—which means that if Kaneko cannot keep his vow, seppuku may be Kaneko’s fate, and preferable to living in dishonor, at that.

Later that evening, a weaponless Laurence is about to attack two guards, when Junichiro, a sixteen-year-old who serves Kaneko and dislikes Laurence, helps him escape. They exit, pursued by a dragon.

Meanwhile, back at the Potentate, the dragons are levering the ship off the rocks by going to one end of the tree-trunks and deflating their air-sacs. This works too well: when the ship is raised up, it comes sliding down the levers toward them, and Temeraire is struck by the ship and knocked out.

Chapter 4

Three days later, Temeraire is prodded awake in Nagasaki Harbor by a Chinese doctor. Hammond tells everyone about the Phaeton, which he views as a disaster for British interests but which infuriates the sailors and aviators.

Laurence and Junichiro evade the dragon and sleep on the grounds of a temple. They are found the next morning by Lady Kiyomizu, the river-dragon of the temple; she takes them back to the temple proper so Laurence can recite English poetry to her and gets them stinking drunk. The next morning, Junichiro explains that he helped Laurence escape to save Kaneko’s honor (Junichiro’s family were ronin and are all dead, which is why Lady Arikawa let them escape). Lady Kiyomizu comes back demanding more poetry and Laurence tells her that they need to leave; Junichiro is absolutely appalled, but she takes it fairly calmly and says that they will go to the sea together the next morning.

Laurence and Junichiro are carried in saddlebags, basically, as Kiyo (as she tells Laurence to call her) swims down the Chikugo River to the Ariaka Sea, across which is Nagasaki. But Kiyo pauses their journey when signaled by villagers, who need her to save the fields from a frost by inhaling a great quantity of river and exhaling it steaming-hot into irrigation channels. At the resulting banquet, the villagers realize that Laurence is a European.

Chapter 5

Temeraire remains extremely concerned about Laurence. He invites over a lightweight dragon aboard a Dutch ship, hoping to induce someone else to look for him. The British dragons are surprised to find that the ship is American and only flying under Dutch colors on contract, and that the dragon, one John Wampanoag of Salem, Massachusetts, is part-owner of the ship. Temeraire asks Wampanoag to look for news of a “lost sailor” and assures him that they are not there to seek retribution for the Phaeton.

Laurence and Junichiro escape the gathering and steal a fishing-boat, but Laurence is recognized when their boat gets entangled with a ferry. They get a little way downstream and then jump for the shore.

Chapter 6

Laurence and Junichiro walk to the sea and cross on a makeshift raft. At Nagasaki, they find Kaneko and Lady Arikawa between them and the tiny Dutch settlement, and step off the road and try to go around.

Temeraire had seen Lady Arikawa arriving earlier and speaking with Wampanoag, and recognized her for a person of substance. In his anxiety for something to happen, he takes entirely the wrong lesson out of Hammond explaining why the Japanese were nervous about the Potentate‘s arrival, and suggests a set of military exercises, which are capped by Iskierka’s fire-breathing.

Wampanoag comes to them with a scrap of cloth that is unmistakably from Laurence’s shirt, and when Temeraire distantly asks where it was found, says that the Japanese “weren’t inclined to be talkative, after that show you lot put on.” (The Japanese have built their local warehouses, and everything else, in wood.) Hammond arranges that they will leave immediately, and Temeraire sinks into despair as they wait for their tide.

Laurence and Junichiro come back to the shore, where Laurence sees the Potentate making sail and signals for assistance. Kaneko finds them and tells Laurence that he may surrender and be made prisoner by the shogun. But that will not satisfy Kaneko’s vow, and so Laurence fights Kaneko in recognition of his obligation to Junichiro and in hope of rescue. Lady Arikawa captures Laurence before Kaneko can commit suicide on Laurence’s sword. She is about to bitterly adhere to her duty and take Laurence prisoner, when an enormous black dragon lands and demands Laurence’s return on pain of war: “He is a prince of China, and my captain.” Laurence’s response? “The devil I am.”

Chapter 7

On board the Potentate, Laurence admits his amnesia and is naturally grieved to hear that Riley is dead. The ship’s surgeon insists that further shocks to Laurence’s “already-weakened mind must be dangerous,” with particular, though naturally unspoken, reference to Laurence’s treason. Though Laurence wants to be told more in hopes of repairing his memory, Hammond convinces him that his duty lies not in going mad, but in studying for the mission to China. Laurence goes to comfort Temeraire (“a first-rate off a lee-shore, and his the duty to keep her off the rocks”)—interrupting Hammond in the process, who is trying to explain the need to not mention the treason. Laurence is shown Temeraire and Iskierka’s egg, which reassures him somewhat about Temeraire’s ability to understand duty.

Wampanoag comes to tell Temeraire that he has helped negotiate for the Potentate to leave after a farewell dinner given by the Japanese, so that no-one loses face, and also that the Japanese are considering a trade treaty with the Americans. (Kiyo was in favor of this on the Japanese side, she tells Laurence at the dinner.) Laurence says farewell to Kaneko, whose honor has been satisfied (at least according to Lady Arikawa) and who is clearly grieving for Junichiro, who will leave Japan with Laurence.

As they make sail, Laurence realizes that Temeraire is not conversing with the other dragons, and goes to offer him company. Temeraire suggests they read the Principia Mathematica, and Laurence automatically climbs up onto Temeraire’s foreleg to sit.

Laurence sat still a moment with the book open upon his lap, struggling with a kind of horror between bone-deep familiarity and endless strangeness.

“Laurence?” the dragon asked, anxiously. “Are you well? Shall I send for the ship’s surgeon?”

“I am well,” Laurence said, drawing his breath deep; for what alternative was there? “Where should you like me to begin?”

Commentary

I see what you did there, series: that’s a (terrible, heartbreaking) callback to the end of Victory of Eagles.

So let’s start there, with the amnesia plot [*]. I was seriously not a fan of it when I first read this book, and I’m going to talk myself through it in this post to see what I think now.

[*] In a sign of my life right now, I keep wanting to type “insomnia” instead of “amnesia”; in case I miss one, sorry, that’s what happened. (Also, dear readers, I tried mightily to make this post shorter, but (a) this book is genuinely long (another chapter record, at 20) and (b) I ran out of time. I’m sorry.)

From a big-picture story point of view, the reason for the Japan interlude is to acquire Junichiro—this isn’t a spoiler, there’s a big flashing sign over Junichiro’s head to this effect in Chapter 20. What would have happened if Laurence had washed up on shore with his memory? Kaneko would still be put in a conflict between his vow and the law, and Junichiro would still be motivated to help Kaneko escape that conflict. Maybe Laurence might rely on diplomatic negotiations instead of escape; but maybe he’d feel the need to escape even more acutely, between (a) the Japanese suspicion and fear of both Britain and China, which would be heightened if his true identity was known, and (b) Laurence’s knowing that Temeraire must be frantic with worry. So I’m not convinced that Laurence needed to lose his memory for the Japan plot to work.

And from a non-plot point of view, well, this regresses Laurence to the very first page of the series. And keeps him that way for a long damn time, all the way to the end of Chapter 15. All the learning to be friends with Temeraire, angsting over dragons acting independently, angsting over treason (don’t think I didn’t notice in Chapter 3 when he thinks “He himself would gladly have accepted death as the price of escaping some dishonorable act, certainly before treason”), all of it all over again.

I understand that the goal may have been interpersonal conflict to run alongside the external perils of intrigue, war, and whatnot. But if something this artificial and regressive was the only thing that would serve this purpose while fitting the shape of the story, I would much rather have had it left out entirely.

Huh. Before this post I would have said this was my least favorite book after Tongues of Serpents, and now I’m not sure that it isn’t my least favorite, period. Tough call.

Let’s turn to worldbuilding stuff. First, Japan. There is a fairly dense reference in chapter 3, when the Japanese interrogator tells Laurence that

[A Celestial] has not been seen across the sea for five centuries, since the servants of the Yuan emperor stole the last egg of the Divine Wind line from Hakozaki Shrine as he withdrew in ignominy from his attempt at conquest, his murderous beasts having slain the rest of that noble line.

The Yuan Emperor referred to was Kublai Khan, who in our history unsuccessfully invaded Japan in 1274 (and also 1281). We previously heard of him in His Majesty’s Dragon, chapter 8: Sir Edward Howe’s book of dragon stories from Asia included the tale of “the Japanese dragon Raiden, who had driven the armada of Kublai Khan away from the island nation.” In our history, the Hakozaki Shrine burned to the ground when the Yuan invaders landed, but as Sir Edward noted in the supplementary material to Throne of Jade, water-spouters are “inexpressibly valuable not only in battle, but in the protection of the wooden buildings of Japan from the dangers of fire.” (Wikipedia has a whole page on “Fires in Edo.”) So the Shrine survived to the end of the invasion. Nothing comes to mind as a parallel for eradicating Celestial dragons from Japan, however, and I suspect this is merely to keep Japan a lesser military power and therefore preserve their relative historical positions.

Other Japan notes: Lord Jinai is four hundred years old. I wonder if all Japanese dragons are addressed as Lord or Lady? And Kiyo’s frost-banishing ability suggests to Laurence that the Japanese might gain “an entirely additional growing-season,” another solution to the “how do you feed dragons” problem.

There’s a few tidbits about the United States via John Wampanoag. First, of course, his tribe was presumably not nearly-eradicated in King Philip’s war, and also it adopted a number of Dutch “back during the quarreling over New Amsterdam that was.” And second, the president is Tecumseh, who defeated Hamilton—that’s actually two divergences for the price of one, since Hamilton’s fatal duel with Aaron Burr (sir) was in 1804 in our world. We haven’t got enough information to draw even dotted lines as to how those divergences came about, so these are more cameos or Easter eggs than anything, but they’re fun.

In terms of languages, does anyone know why bakufu and ronin aren’t italicized, but seppuku is? Or is this some weird ebook thing?

Finally, chapter 5 fixes the broken timeline I mentioned last book:

The Portuguese owners had been as laggard as they could in freeing many of their slaves, and those released had not all been perfectly happy to find themselves subsequently claimed as the family of the Tswana dragons, however much cherished by the same. But so far the arrangement had held, at least in name; they had remained in Brazil several months to see it established, despite all their urgent wish to be on the way to China, and Temeraire counted it yet as a success.

I can’t regard this as anything but timeline-fixing, and honestly will pretend it didn’t actually happen.

PART II (Chapters 8-15)

Chapter 8

Laurence tries to adjust on the way to China. He is tutored endlessly by Hammond and Gong Su; reads letters from his mother and from Jane Roland, which lead him to the baffling conclusion that Emily Roland is his daughter (Temeraire later disabuses him of this); worries about Junichiro, who does whatever he is asked and otherwise remains solitary; and spends more time with Temeraire, working on maneuvers and reading Percy Shelley’s Zastrozzi, which they both dislike for different reasons.

In China at their formal audience with Crown Prince Mianning, a Chinese man dressed as a Westerner rolls in an incendiary. Laurence and Temeraire work seamlessly together to minimize the damage caused by the bomb, and Laurence and Mianning are evacuated by four guard dragons—not to the Summer Palace, as they should be, but to the estate of Lord Bayan, a member of the conservative party who oversaw preparations for the meeting.

When they arrive, Lord Bayan places them under very heavy guard and Mianning tells Laurence that the conspirators cannot leave them alive. They start a fire and get into the open in the resulting confusion, and are being pursued by many guards when Temeraire arrives. The four guard dragons try to attack Temeraire, who kills one of them and cows the rest into submission.

Temeraire takes Laurence and Mianning back to Mianning’s palace; Mianning tells them that he will not publicly accuse Bayan, because now he has something certain to hold over the conservative party’s heads. Until then, he had no evidence, not even in the death of his dragon companion (Temeraire’s twin), Chuan.

Chapter 9

Gong Su explains that Chuan had been poisoned six months ago, and there is no other Celestial to be Mianning’s companion. Laurence is worried that Hammond might ask him to give up Temeraire, which is made worse when Granby reveals that the Admiralty would be delighted by “anything so neat as giving them a treaty and being shot of Temeraire all at once.” Hammond assures them that this is not his plan; instead, he intends to propose “Temeraire’s favoring them with an egg.”

Temeraire and Mei, who Temeraire courted in Throne of Jade, agree to attempt conception. Mei is very worried that Chuan’s murderers might gain control of the throne and asks Temeraire whether he would stay in China. Temeraire asks Laurence, but Laurence doesn’t realize he means both of them staying, which horribly upsets Temeraire. Laurence apologizes but Temeraire will not resume the discussion. At this point, a message from the Emperor arrives demanding, in the idiom of the court, Laurence’s immediate attendance.

Laurence, Mianning, and Bayan are received privately by the Emperor, who is visibly unwell but still decisive. Mianning and Bayan joust over the international balance of power in light of Napoleon’s conquests and British defiance of the Emperor’s restrictions on the opium trade; Bayan says that “General Fela, whom you charged with repressing the remnants of the White Lotus rebellion … has seen the British bringing those evil traitors aid, in the form of this evil drug.” Laurence reflexively denies this, which Bayan uses to suggest sending Laurence and Temeraire to aid Fela. To Laurence’s surprise, Mianning joins this suggestion as long as Laurence is sent “with a force appropriate to his rank.” The Emperor orders Laurence to take General Chu and “three jalan of dragon bannermen … to deal with the rebellion and uncover the source of these strange and evil rumors about your country-men, proving them false if you can.”

Chapter 10

General Chu is delightfully unimpressed with Temeraire and the formation, and has them set off immediately, with the jalan to assemble on the way. They land at a pavilion, where Mianning explains that this mission will allow Mei and Temeraire more time to attempt to conceive away from the potentially-dangerous gossip of court, and also will provide Laurence with a ready-made force of a size that would be “natural” to send against Napoleon.

The British have no idea how big a jalan is and for some reason don’t just ask, and are surprised by the end of the first week of travel to be leading forty dragons.

Chapter 11

The British aviators realize that the number of dragons is attributable to feeding them on porridge with relatively little meat, but are still impressed at the ease of their assembly. Laurence is furious when Hammond admits that the British Government winks at British merchants evading the restrictions on opium trading (Hammond: “I wish you would not insist on reducing such tangled matters to angels and devils”). While Hammond does flatly deny any involvement with the White Lotus, Laurence fears a less-official British plot, which would also be covertly encouraged by Government.

While Laurence, Mrs. Pemberton, and Roland are having a conversation away from the main camp, they are attacked by assassins. They defeat them but the last assassin kills himself rather than be captured and questioned. Hammond sees the attack as explaining Bayan’s motives for sending them away from the capital and warns that General Fela is also one of the conservative party.

At Xian, they discover that three jalan = three hundred dragons. All the British and Junichiro, especially, are stunned. When they arrive at General Fela’s encampment, he claims that they just destroyed a village harboring the White Lotus rebels, where they found British opium.

Chapter 12

Specifically, Fela claims to have found the village (but not the rebels, who fled) by following a British dragon carrying opium—twenty thousand pounds’ worth, which when viewed is obviously from a single British ship. Laurence is incandescently angry, but Granby points out that Fela is not being fully truthful because the British do not use dragons to carry cargo. Hammond sends a letter to the Emperor, with Mei’s help. While waiting for a response, Laurence talks with Mrs. Pemberton, which an anxious Temeraire misinterprets as romantic interest, in light of how changed Laurence is. In the resulting conversation, Temeraire mentions “our valley, in New South Wales”—not realizing that Laurence had forgotten their treason and transportation.

Chapter 13

Laurence is unable to conceive what might have brought him to commit treason, and tells Granby, “I think I can scarcely blame myself, if having forgotten, I did not wish to remember this.” He is still deeply distressed, but realizes that Temeraire must be as well, and goes to speak with them.

Temeraire is, indeed, “as wretched as ever he had been.” In his typical desire for action, he goes to look for the rebels, and makes Ferris, Forthing, and Sipho come along, so they won’t go tell Laurence. They unexpectedly find the Turkestan feral Arkady, who is hobbled in a hastily-abandoned encampment; Arkady was coming overland with a message from Temeraire and was captured by dragons. They are all then trapped by a rockslide and attacked by soldiers of the army.

Laurence notices that Temeraire is missing, realizes how much he cares for him, and asks a strangely-formal Captain Little to take him on a search. Little agrees and they find the trapped dragons, but Immortalis is attacked by an army dragon as Laurence and Little fight the soldiers who are literally hacking Temeraire apart. Then Kulingile arrives and kills the army dragon and soldiers. While they slowly dig out the trapped dragons and people, Temeraire asks Laurence whether he would have been happier if he had never met Temeraire, and offers to stay alone in China, or let Laurence stay while he leaves. Laurence refuses, instinctively, saying that he will not unmake his own choices.

Chapter 14

Everyone is freed; Temeraire and Arkady stay at the little camp so as not to alert General Fela before they can get proof. Arkady says he’s been captive a month and mentions “we”; when Laurence asks what he meant, he says “in feigned tones of great surprise, ‘Why, Tharkay was with me, of course; haven’t you rescued him yet?’”

The British confer and Hammond realizes there are no rebels: they were created to undermine Prince Mianning’s influence at court, but now that Laurence was sent out with a separate force, Fela was forced to quickly discredit or kill them. They decide they must have help to get proof and find Tharkay, and enlist General Chu to survey the area.

Chu is resistant to the idea that Fela manufactured the rebels, but when Laurence asks whether he has seen any evidence at all, he agrees to take a look. He brings them to a White Lotus fortification inside a cave that he remembers, which is occupied.

An aerial battle ensues and is eventually won by Chu’s dragons. Laurence fights his way into the caves to rescue Tharkay, with soldiers loaned by Chu. He takes a blow to the head and feels a strange familiarity as he goes down a narrow passageway and opens a wooden door.

There was a room, and a pallet inside it; a small torch burned low in a socket upon the wall. A man lay upon the cot, his face bruised and battered, his hands curled against his chest bloody: and Laurence knew him; knew him and knew himself. He remembered another door opening, in Bristol, three years before, and a voice asking him to come outside his prison, in a Britain under siege.

“Tenzing,” Laurence said, and, as Tharkay opened feverish eyes, went to help him stand.

Chapter 15

Tharkay had been sent with the news of Napoleon’s plan to invade Russia in June with La Grande Armée: nearly a million men and a hundred dragons. It is now May 3, 1812, and they make immediate plans to return to the capital (Temeraire has already executed General Fela).

At the capital, they install Temeraire and Iskierka’s egg in state and under guard in Prince Mianning’s palace. Mei tells Temeraire that Mianning is sending her and a minister to search incoming ships and burn opium when they find it. They say farewell, with the possibility of Temeraire returning after the war and trying again to give her an egg, as they were not successful this time.

Temeraire and Laurence confer with Gong Su, General Chu, and a dragon in charge of supply named Shen Shi, about getting to Moscow (Hammond, reluctantly, will go with them). Harcourt decides to take her formation to the Peninsula, where it could tip the balance; Laurence encourages Demane to go with them, so that he can prove himself as a captain on the battlefield under Roland and Wellington. Laurence says farewell to Granby and Little (giving them a reassurance of his discretion about their now-remembered relationship), and gets ready to leave with Tharkay, who is still recovering from his torture. Temeraire and Laurence are optimistic about finally beating Napoleon, in light of the aerial advantage they will bring and Napoleon’s need to use some of his ground forces to keep his lines of retreat open.

Commentary

The first time I read this book, I was pretty grumpy about the resolution of the White Lotus plot, because I was reading too fast in hopes that Laurence would get his memory back, already, and so I missed that the British were indeed, as Laurence says, engaged in “deliberate, orchestrated defiance of the law” regarding opium imports. Because the British conduct in trying to sell opium in China was indeed terrible, and so my mistaken reading of the book made it seem like Fela’s plot was minimizing the British conduct. I’m glad to be wrong.

(The White Lotus Rebellion was suppressed in 1804. General Chu remembers flying the northern plains for the great Kang-Xi Emperor, which would have been in the 1680s. Also, how great is General Chu? A grumpier version of Celeritas, who I really hope has been let out of the breeding grounds in Ireland by now.)

As for the resolution of Laurence’s amnesia: you may recall that I ship Laurence/Tharkay, so that scene was a gift (as is Tharkay casually addressing Laurence as “Will” throughout the rest of the book), but I still wish the entire plot hadn’t been drawn out so long, as stated above. (Also, I hate to say it, but Tharkay found him in Dover, not Bristol.)

There’s something like a justification for the amnesia plot in chapter 15, when Laurence thinks while his memory is still coming back,

he felt no longer that strange sense of division from himself. Even that, he now recognized, was not so great a distance from the state of his mind these last several years. He was divided from the man he had once been, and by a gulf he could no longer cross.

But I still feel like we knew that already. It is, however, hilarious to hear both Tharkay and Granby reject Laurence’s suggestion that the amnesia was caused by his cowardice:

“I am of the opinion,” Tharkay said, “that you ought not assign to free will something more likely the consequence of a sharp blow to the skull.”

Granby snorted. “You are the only fellow I can think of, Laurence, whose notion of a weak-minded retreat would be to cast your own head ahoo and slog onwards confused beyond everything, and nearly kill yourself thrice over.”

Yes, that’s all those characters in a nutshell. Though my favorite conversation so far in the book is probably back in chapter 6, when Forthing tells Temeraire that he has a son in England: “‘Well,’ [Temeraire] added, ‘it does not make me like you any better; having a son is no excuse for looking like a shag-bag.'” Temeraire then goes on to passionately upbraid Forthing for the state of his shirt (dirty) and his coat (“nothing like green: not at all“).

I realize this is a very frivolous note to end this section on, but I think we need it. Also there will be more than enough logistics and grimness next section, though I will attempt to pass lightly over both. *check word count, despairs*

PART III (Chapters 16-20)

Chapter 16

Laurence and Hammond are in Moscow trying to get someone to believe that they are bringing three hundred dragons. Laurence meets Dyhern, a Prussian aviator who had been taken prisoner in Black Powder War. (He escaped but thinks his dragon is being held in France; Temeraire says that when they return to England, he will ask one of the unharnessed couriers to cross the Channel and inquire at the French breeding grounds.) Dyhern explains that many are skeptical because they remember how Britain did not send their promised twenty dragons during the Prussian campaign, and agrees to help Temeraire’s flight crew, which is badly short-handed.

At the Chinese encampment, General Chu explains that the Chinese dragons have not been seen because they are traveling in very small groups at least twenty miles apart, so that they do not overburden the resources of the land they are traveling through. Chu emphasizes that the countryside is so poor that they must find the French army soon so that the Chinese dragons can join together, defeat it, and leave.

Temeraire decides they should ask the Russian dragons where the French army is, since “they must be hearing of it from their officers every minute.” Well, no: at the main covert, they find a heavyweight armored dragon literally atop hoards of treasure, who doesn’t even know that she is in an army. Her captain arrives and tells Laurence to “keep your three hundred fairy tales, and take this trained dog of yours away to them, also!”

As they are about to leave, a wounded dragon comes flying in; his captain reports that they have been run out of Smolensk and are retreating rapidly.

Chapter 17

It is August 30, the Russian army is retreating in disarray, and when Laurence finally finds a Russian general—Kutuzov—he won’t see them. Chu says that if the Russians will not speak with him, the Chinese dragons will go home: “I will not spend my soldiers for fools, nor expose them to those guns for no purpose.” Tharkay gets an audience by borrowing Laurence’s extra-fancy Chinese robes and letting the Russians assume that he is a Chinese prince.

Now in company with Kutuzov, they keep retreating toward Moscow. As they go, they learn more about the Russian dragons: the light-weights are at the beck and call of the heavy-weights and eat only whatever scraps they can find; and the Russians entirely reject the idea of recruiting the feral dragons in their breeding grounds.

When the Russians finally decide to fight, General Chu says that he needs “four days to concentrate upon the battlefield.” Kutuzov realizes they do not have four days of retreat to spare, and asks the Tsar to request a temporary truce for negotiations.

At the negotiations, Lien is not present (she is guarding Napoleon and Anahuarque’s four-month-old son in Paris), but there are a dragon officer in the Incan armies and what is later revealed to be a dragon Marshal. But the French dragons are understaffed and undersupplied, and the Russian mood is further lightened by the news of Wellington’s victory at Salamanca.

In the first day of negotiations, “Napoleon, it was evident to see, saw himself a seducer; and to oblige him Alexander made himself out a maiden to be courted, and as coy as any skillful courtesan played off his suitor’s ardent attempts to reach a consummation.” But this puts Alexander “in a rage of humiliation,” and his pretense breaks in the second day. As Napoleon leaves the conference, he is nearly attacked by a Russian dragon spurred by its handler, which causes him to take note of the Russian dragons’ spiked bridles and hostility toward their handlers.

Kutuzov says that they have gained enough time to fall back to the fortified town of Borodino to wait for the Chinese dragons—who he still isn’t entirely convinced exist.

Chapter 18

It is September 7 at Borodino and Laurence wakes to the news that a French patrol saw the first jalan arriving late the night before. Laurence goes to tell Kutuzov that they must pursue the French army immediately, but is forced to wait nearly three hours and then is not believed—until two messengers arrive to say that the French are falling back everywhere and that “There are a thousand dragons (sic) coming from the east.”

Napoleon moved fast enough, and Kutuzov slow enough, to prevent a Russian attack on the French rearguard. Battle will instead be joined at a nearby town which the French have thoroughly fortified.

Chapter 19

Battle begins. The French have set their artillery so that the Chinese dragons will only be able to attack the French twenty at a time, but the Chinese dragons still outnumber the French 300 to 60. Temeraire is deeply frustrated at being forced to observe the battle in order to learn how to manage it and save his strength for a decisive moment, but obeys Chu.

The battle seems to be going well, when a Chinese commander brings Chu a sample of what sounds like jerky, which is too much supply for the French dragons present. Chu orders scouts to investigate and then is gravely injured by French artillery that snuck up on the Russian rear. Temeraire briefly entertains fantasies of taking command and smashing the French forces with the divine wind, but then asks Laurence for advice and takes it: he appoints the most senior jalan leader to the command and tells her that she should plan on more French soldiers coming, because “it is just the sort of thing Napoleon likes to do.” And he is correct: the French are reinforced with forty dragons and twenty thousand men on foot, likely originally intended to take Moscow.

The Russian army is able to retreat thanks to Kutuzov’s caution; he also decides to abandon Moscow for a well-supplied strategic position in the south. As they help evacuate Moscow, they see Russian soldiers deliberately burning their own city to deny its shelter to Napoleon.

Chapter 20

Laurence and Tharkay are scouting in Moscow, to try and get a sense of what Napoleon intends to do. Kutuzov would be glad to have Napoleon sit in Moscow as long as he wanted, while the French supply disintegrates, but Laurence did not “feel it at all consistent with the duty he owed the Emperor of China, to strand his borrowed legions in the midst of Russia with inadequate supply during the oncoming winter.” They see that Murat’s dragon Liberté has brought a starving French dragon out of the breeding grounds, which like the rest has been hobbled to keep it there.

Laurence furiously tells Temeraire of the hobblings, at the same moment they are finally ordered to attack. Laurence realizes that the defeat of Napoleon is within their grasp, but resolves that after the war, if the Russians will not un-hobble their dragons, he and Temeraire will do so and offer them work in China.

Laurence goes to General Kutuzov to tell him of this plan, who is surprisingly—unsurprised. He tells Laurence that the Russians had all debated whether they could afford help from Laurence and Temeraire: what with the Prussian campaign and the plague and Brazil and all, “Where you go, you leave half the world overturned behind you.” But Kutuzov sees the logic in Laurence’s position, especially since the Tsar wants to chase the French all the way to Paris, and agrees to free the dragons from the breeding grounds—once they are sure they can feed them, because it was not so long ago that Russia experienced the Time of Troubles, when dragons ate humans for lack of other food.

Previously, after seeing the assembled jalan, Junichiro had fiercely devoted himself to learning English, French, and aerial tactics. He comes to Laurence to say that he must end his service to Laurence, either with Laurence’s permission or by killing himself: he intends to go to Napoleon and ask him to send an envoy to Japan, because Japan needs allies against China. Laurence recognizes the risks, but also that Junichiro is correct and that he has no right to stop him. Junichiro leaves after swearing not to reveal any information about the Chinese or Russian forces.

The Russians win an unqualified victory in the assault ordered back when Laurence learned about the hobblings, and Temeraire is incredibly optimistic: Napoleon’s whole army has been located, and even though the second jalan was sent back to China, they still have aerial superiority. And the resulting battle is indeed going well, until a courier comes flying in with the news that Murat released all the Russian dragons from the nearby breeding grounds and directed them at the Russian supply-train. A hundred or more ferals attack the Russians (only about a dozen attack the French), and when the Chinese dragons defend the supply, some of the ferals seize wounded soldiers from the field hospital. The Russians retreat south, and hear news that farms and villages have also been attacked by Russian ferals, who the French have put out cooking-pits to feed.

It is October 25 and Napoleon has three choices: “he might retreat himself towards Moscow and from there retire to Smolensk along the road which had brought him, or he might instead try and take a southern route; or if he had not yet lost the heart for a final adventure, even strike out for Kaluga [the main supply base to the south] after all, and throw a gauntlet once more in the teeth of the Russian Army.”

Laurence and the Chinese dragons agree to secure the nearby heavy-weight breeding grounds, as they are haunted by the deaths of the wounded soldiers. There, they capture Murat, but too late to prevent him from freeing forty-odd heavy-weights and setting them on Kaluga, where they destroy or steal massive quantities of supplies. Not only that, but twenty Russian light-weights have defected to the French army.

The book ends with the news that:

Napoleon’s army had begun to move south, along the Kaluga Road. He was coming. He had chosen the great gamble. A cold and stinging wind was blowing into Laurence’s face; he rubbed away sleep, and found his hand wet; he looked up. Snow was falling.

Winter had come.

Commentary

And … cliffhanger! But it’s only six days until y’all can find out how it’s resolved.

The reason for the Russian treatment of their dragons is left pretty late: some time within recent memory, dragons started eating people in the absence of other food, something traumatic enough to get capital letters (“the Time of Troubles”), depictions in fine art (the painting described in the very long chapter 20), and, one presumes, the decision to control dragons through pain and, sometimes, treasure. And that’s understandable, though short-sighted: note if they had acted just a little quicker, they would have prevented the horror unleashed by Murat.

Generally, the series has been pretty good at having dragon rights run alongside human rights, not substituting for them or displacing them—a common problem when SFF uses mythical creatures as metaphors for real-world marginalized groups, thereby replacing them. But this book only has room for a passing mention of the needs of Russian humans: Laurence thinks that “the condition of the Russian peasantry, very little removed from slavery, was nearly as pitiable as that of the dragons; and yet there was something intolerable in the spectacle of hundreds of beasts so hobbled that they might not even fly as was their nature, but instead were confined to scrabbling in pits.” I realize the structure of the entire Russian economy is thoroughly outside the scope of this book, but I did find Laurence’s self-justification a little dissatisfying.

Look at Temeraire’s character growth, shown by his not fighting even though technically he had the right! It’s true that when he did get to lead an attack, he brings the supporting Chinese dragons a little too close to the artillery in his reluctance to come away from the battle, and one dragon is injured, but hopefully that is also a not-too-pricey lesson (this was a bit I eliminated from the chapter 20 summary).

I managed to also entirely omit the Russian light-weight dragon Grig from the summary, in my unsuccessful attempt to keep this post under seven thousand words. Grig is skilled at learning languages, was one of the light-weights that Laurence recruited as messenger between the Chinese and Russian armies, and was deceiving Laurence and Temeraire about how maltreated he is. It’s explicitly stated in chapter 20 that he was set on them as a spy; probably this was after Temeraire and Laurence showed up at the breeding grounds and Grig’s captain called Temeraire a trained dog.

I don’t have a lot to say about the military campaign, in part because it is literally stupidly late as I finish this post and in part because at the end of the book we don’t know where it’s going: until the attacks of the ferals, it seemed that the general course of events was trending roughly the same way as in our history, even if some specifics were slightly altered to suit. And since I am still pretending I haven’t read the last book, I fear to say too much in case spoilers leak through.

And on that note, I think I will leave you until next week, when I post a spoiler-free review of League of Dragons, which will be followed two weeks later with a spoiler post. See you then.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/06/08/the-temeraire-reread-blood-of-tyrants/feed/23The Temeraire Reread: Crucible of Goldhttps://www.tor.com/2016/06/01/the-temeraire-reread-crucible-of-gold/
https://www.tor.com/2016/06/01/the-temeraire-reread-crucible-of-gold/#commentsWed, 01 Jun 2016 18:00:34 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=215746Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th. We continue this week with the seventh novel, Crucible of Gold, in which we head for Brazil. You […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th. We continue this week with the seventh novel, Crucible of Gold, in which we head for Brazil. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I’ve read it, but I’m pretending I haven’t). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

MAP, PROLOGUE, AND PART I (Chapters 1-6)

Map

I realize that you have to put maps somewhere and the front of the book is traditional, but this map is really a giant spoiler for the book, considering that it shows the Allegiance‘s course just … stopping, mid-Pacific, and then the Triomphe, which may reasonably be presumed French based on its name, entering the picture. (Commenter Booksnhorses reports that the British edition of the last book didn’t have a map! As of the time I’m queuing this post for publication, I haven’t heard whether the British edition of this book or the next did.)

Prologue

Arthur Hammond comes from Peking to Temeraire’s pavilion in Australia, by suffering through three straight weeks in the air on Shen Li, the long-winged courier-dragon from the last book. On arrival, he is nearly eaten by a bunyip, which is scared off by Temeraire and by Laurence in “ragged backwoods hunter” mode.

Chapter 1

Hammond brings the news that Laurence has been reinstated to the Corps. Laurence refuses to accept because he assumes that he will be asked to suppress MacArthur’s rebellion in Sydney, but Hammond assures him that MacArthur’s actions will be excused because he sensibly avoided war with China, as long as he repents of rebelling.

Rather, Hammond is there because Wellington is about to land in Portugal and commence a long ground campaign through French-occupied Portugal and Spain, aiming at France itself, while Russia and Prussia strike from the east. But Brazil is under attack by the Tswana, who are seeking the return of their enslaved kin; and if the Prince Regent is forced to leave Brazil and return to Portugal, the British doubt whether the Portuguese royal family will still allow the British to land troops. Therefore, peace in Brazil is of the utmost importance, and

it seemed Wellington had expressed the opinion that if anyone might be hoped to have success at talking sense into a band of uncontrollable dragons, it should be the two of them; as long as someone was sent along to be sure they did not in the process give away three-quarters of the colony.

(We learn next chapter that reinforcements are also being sent to meet them.)

Temeraire is eager to have Laurence reinstated, though he does feel a bit wistful at leaving their valley. Laurence decides to go: though he fears that they will do more evil than good back in the world, he knows he cannot “allow those fears to imprison them more securely even than the miles of ocean,” particularly because, “[i]f nothing else, Temeraire was not made to lie idle, in a peaceful valley at the far ends of the earth.”

Chapter 2

The Allegiance turned around at Madras on Hammond’s summons, so Riley, Iskierka, and Granby are back. Laurence does his best to fill a crew for Temeraire on slim pickings, made slimmer by his refusal to take anyone who tried to interfere with Kulingile and Demane (who will come with them, rather than remaining subject to Rankin). He does take Lieutenant Forthing, of the shabby coat from last book; two former convicts, O’Dea the florid gloom-and-doom type and Shipley, a tailor; and as a personal follower, Ferris, their former lieutenant of the smothering, Corps-proud mother, who was dismissed the service after Laurence and Temeraire’s treason, and who followed them to Australia out of desperation.

At a farewell dinner given by MacArthur—now Governor—and more specifically Mrs. MacArthur, Laurence meets Mrs. Pemberton, who came to Australia for adventure with her husband but was widowed on the voyage, and now is at loose ends. He will engage her as a chaperone for Emily Roland between this chapter and the next, after Roland knocks down a soldier who grabbed her. Neither Roland nor Demane are happy about this: Roland because she didn’t want fuss and sees no need for a chaperone, and Demane because neither Roland nor Laurence approve of his attempt to defend Roland when she didn’t want defending.

Chapter 3

They leave Australia. Laurence and Riley are scrupulously courteous to each other and do not discuss Laurence’s mission at all, for fear of resuming their previous conflict over slavery. Laurence contemplates “the offer which [he] privately wished to make [to the Tswana]: a general liberation throughout the country, in lieu of having all their particular kindred returned.”

They manage to survive a five-day storm. But the officers, able seamen, and aviators are stupefied with exhaustion when the storm ends, and the less-responsible sailors take advantage of the lack of supervision to break into the ship’s spirit-room, get roaring drunk, and accidentally start a fire. The sober sailors fight the fire valiantly, and the aviators help by having the dragons pick up the drunks and dunk them, to get them out of the way and under control. But the fire causes two enormous explosions and the Allegiance begins to sink.

Chapter 4

Temeraire picks Laurence and Demane out of the water and returns to the sinking ship to attempt to pick up supplies. They rescue some drunken sailors, but Fellowes, Temeraire’s ground-crew master since the first book, and Riley are among the lost. (Granby’s arm is also seriously injured.) Two ship’s boats survived and set off to try to make landfall, crammed with sailors, while the dragons fly on with sailors in their belly-netting.

The dragons fly for three days with only an hour’s rest on a tiny reef, and are at the extreme end of their endurance when they spot a ship, which sends up a flare in response to their signals. The dragons manage to land, and just as Temeraire falls asleep, he hears Laurence say, “We surrender.”

Chapter 5

Temeraire wakes to discover that they are on a French dragon-transport, the Triomphe, along with a Fleur-de-Nuit named Genevieve, companion to Ambassador De Guignes and a language prodigy bred on the advice of Lien; two other French dragons; and a dragon named Maila Yupanqui, an Incan ambassador. De Guignes is, as always, perfectly courteous and kind, but also extremely displeased at having encountered them and does his best to isolate them. However, Mrs. Pemberton tells them that the ship’s company includes, puzzlingly, several French noblewomen.

The British dragons are grumpy at being prisoners when they feel they would easily defeat the others in a fair fight. Hammond starts teaching Temeraire Quecha and lets Maila eavesdrop on these lessons so that Maila can learn English, which makes Temeraire more grumpy because it makes it easier for Maila to flirt with Iskierka.

The chapter ends with the ship’s arrival at a small island where the British will be left.

Chapter 6

The French leave supplies and the promise to return on the way back to France, but no dragon harness or gear. Keeping everyone to a set ration is an endless and difficult chore, particularly since the best candidate for a leader from the sailors is still recovering from the fire, there are very few aviators, and Laurence dares not have Roland around the sailors (Mrs. Pemberton remained on the ship as De Guignes’s guest, at Laurence’s plea). Despite their efforts, some of the food is stolen, and one of the sailors attempts to threaten Laurence into giving out more food and rum—the French didn’t leave any alcohol, but the sailors don’t believe that.

The sailors have made a still in secret, and break it out while the dragons have flown away to fish. The small amount of liquor gives them bravery, and some, mostly acting out of desperate fear, attempt to take the captains hostage. The sailors manage to grab Demane; Kulingile returns and kills about thirty of them in rescuing Demane.

Roland was knocked unconscious in the fight, but wakes to tell Laurence that she and Demane had found a shipwreck on the far side of the island. There they find quality rope and maps that show scattered atolls leading to the Incan empire.

Commentary

This section feels the most Patrick O’Brian of the series to date to me, though for the sake of my schedule I will not go through summaries of all 20-and-a-bit Aubrey-Maturin books to pick out which particular ones. The tension and horror of the shipwreck and the mutiny are, I think, depicted effectively and don’t take up too much of the book. However, I can certainly understand how one might prefer that the book had them discover the French embassy to the Incan empire some other way and then skipped over the journey. (I note this book has more chapters than any book before it, though the page counts listed online suggest that it’s not the longest; unfortunately I don’t have paper copies on hand to see how comparable those pages are.)

I’m not sure whether Laurence is right that the aviators bear some responsibility for the mutiny on the island. There’s something to be said for his statement that they should have tried harder to keep the sailors busy, because “we might have known that men at once excessive idle and half-mad with fear could be relied on for the worst sort of starts.” But he also thinks guiltily that he did not want to bother with the sailors, because they were responsible for the explosion but were the ones to survive, and as someone who has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility (it’s going to get me in trouble someday), I recognize the symptoms in others.

Let’s skip back to the beginning. Temeraire’s unfinished pavilion is “something neighbor to the Parthenon in size” (per the Prologue), so it’s pretty darn big. (I am planning a kitchen renovation and Temeraire’s insistence on not cutting up the enormous central stone slab of the floor, because it would destroy the marbling, made me laugh; I can just imagine our contractors’ faces at the idea.) Shen Li, the courier-dragon, disapproves of it on grounds that seem likely to be Buddhist in origin: “such attachments” to material things “inevitably must lead to suffering.” Which, as Laurence notes, is a remarkable thing for a dragon to think, and I love this little glimpse of variety in dragon thought.

I have no urge toward agriculture, but the idyllic nature of the valley to Laurence and Temeraire comes across so strongly that I would absolutely like to vacation there. I particularly appreciated the shift from Tongues, in which the British hear a “strange moaning song,” to this book, in which Laurence faintly hears a song and recognizes it as “the Wiradjuri in their summer camp along the river.” (Laurence meets regularly with them for trade, and he intended to “present for their approval Temeraire’s next intended step in the pavilion’s construction, the acquisition of timber from a stand of large old trees to the north.”)

The geopolitical situation: in Chapter 3, Granby notes that Napoleon hasn’t outlawed slavery and wonders at the Tswana being willing to ally with him. Hammond says that the Tswana “have given him a truce, in exchange for reparations: but as his reparations involve shipping them across the sea to attack their enemies, which are also his, there is very little to choose between” calling it a truce and an alliance. He also reports that the Tswana “have not ceased their attacks upon the Spanish coast and the Portuguese.” Obviously we’ll come back to the first part of Hammond’s comments when we reach Rio, but I’m not sure if we hear anything more about the second part.

The French noblewomen on board the Triomphe include Mme. Récamier; as Hammond says in chapter 11, “I thought she loathed Bonaparte, but I suppose she loves an opportunity of intrigue on such a scale enough to compensate.” Indeed, in our history she was exiled by Napoleon in 1805, so this feels a little incongruous, but for such a tiny cameo I suppose it hardly matters.

On another alternate-history note, children’s stories about King Arthur and his knights involve them killing non-mythical dragons, which Temeraire finds unlikely with the weapons available at the time but still unpleasant.

The ongoing issues in Roland and Demane’s relationship are pretty fully established in this section. Demane has proposed multiple times, but Roland has turned him down because he will almost certainly be assigned to Gilbraltar, but she will be taking over Excidium when Jane retires, and she doesn’t want a long-distance relationship: “What’s the use of only having the right to be jealous?” (Also, she has no intention of risking pregnancy, so their relationship has not become intimate in that direction either.) This remains the status quo as of Demane going to Portugal with Lily’s formation at the end of Blood of Tyrants.

Finally, I keep meaning to say something about this and forgetting, and here’s as good a time as any: I call Emily Roland “Roland” in the posts about non-England books because there’s no chance of getting her confused with her mother and because that’s how Laurence thinks of her, and I call Jane Roland “Jane” for similar reasons. Normally I prefer to call all characters by an equivalent level of formality, and particularly disapprove of women being addressed by first names while men are addressed by last; so I thought a brief explanation was in order.

PART II (Chapters 7-13)

Chapter 7

They arrive in Pusantinsuyo, the Incan empire, after two weeks of hop-scotching across several hundred miles of ocean. The first village they find is large and prosperous-looking but has been entirely emptied by plague. They eat from the untended livestock and well-stocked storehouses, and the dragons head out and split up to look for another town, so they can ask for permission to travel the country.

Temeraire finds a small dragon named Palta, who is somewhat awkwardly plowing the fields; Palta agrees to come to the shore with Temeraire, on the condition that he first send home the handful of humans with him. Iskierka finds an elderly man named Taruca, who she picks up without asking (he didn’t run away because he’s blind) or noting the location. Taruca asks them to take him back to his family, but they are nearly two weeks’ flying away. Palta directs them to Governor Hualpa in Talcahuano.

Chapter 8

Governor Hualpa is the governor of dragons, it turns out; the governor of men will not receive Europeans because they have proven themselves untrustworthy (killing a ruler after receiving the ransom you demanded for his release will do that). And while Governor Hualpa receives the dragons, he considers their taking Taruca to be theft.

After a great deal of discussion, it develops that “theft” does not mean that the Inca practice slavery. Rather, humans and dragons belong to family-based communities called ayllu, which humans are sometimes unlawfully taken from. In Taruca’s case, a dragon stole him years ago, but since then he has been exchanged between ayllu with his consent. Thus, the dragon who leads his current ayllu has the lawful right to demand that Iskierka return him—and when she refuses, as of course she does, to demand that the champion of the state fight her on his behalf.

The champion is Manca Copacati, a venom-spitter. He doesn’t know that Iskierka is a fire-breather, and she conceals her ability until the decisive moment, winning the challenge.

Chapter 9

Governor Hualpa gives them safe-passage to return Taruca to Titicaca, which is only two days’ flying from the capital, Cusco.

Leaving is easier said than done, however, as the makeshift harness they escaped the island with is falling to pieces and they have no leather to replace it. Then Ferris appears with several baskets of leather, given by a local dragon as payment for three of the sailors. Laurence disapproves very strongly of “sell[ing] them for our gain,” and is able to talk two of the sailors into returning. The third, however, was the leader of the mutineers, and Temeraire (despite having begun to adopt Incan attitudes) agrees to leave him in return for more presents. The whole episode makes Laurence realize, “in some dismay, [that] the relations between captain and beast could with more rationality be given the character of possession by the latter, than the former.”

Chapter 10

The journey to Titicaca feels “as though they walked through a stranger’s unattended house.” Taruca explains that before the plagues came, only half the ayllu had even one dragon among their curaca (chiefs); but the depopulation caused by the plagues means that almost all ayllu are headed by dragons now, who “are grown anxious, and do not like us to go anywhere; and rightly when they steal from one another.” The government has formed dragon patrols against theft of humans, which is helping.

They pass over Tiwanaku, a city of red stone now deserted, on the way to Titicaca. There, they find “a truly immense” and ancient dragon, Curicuillor, who leads Taruca’s ayllu and is very grateful for his return. She sends them to Cusco with her daughter, Churki (twenty years old and an army veteran), and a message from Taruca and his family asking to let them see the Sapa Inca.

On the way to Cusco, Churki introduces Hammond to coca leaves (to which he becomes addicted), and the entire party valiantly rescues humans and horses from a breaking rope bridge—which turn out to be the baggage-train of the French embassy.

Chapter 11

In Cusco, they find De Guignes and the dragon Maila Yupanqui, who is “a lord of the Sapa Inca’s own ayllu.” Maila takes only Iskierka to be presented to the Sapa Inca, to the frustration and/or terror of Hammond, Temeraire, and Granby. Mrs. Pemberton insists on returning to the British, to De Guignes’ regret. She informs them that she and the French noblewomen are welcome at court, that De Guignes has not been permitted to see the Sapa Inca yet, and that the Sapa Inca is a woman: she is the widow of the prior ruler and the daughter of the one before that, who acted as intermediary while her husband was dying of the pox, and who subsequently convinced the chief dragons of the court that a woman was better suited to ruling, because she could remain at home under their protection instead of leading the army. Mrs. Pemberton doesn’t know what the French are negotiating for, and Hammond is at a loss.

Iskierka returns and announces that the Sapa Inca will see Granby, and also Temeraire and Laurence. At the meeting, Laurence recognizes that the Sapa Inca, Anahuarque, is exercising “a masterful degree of management” over the conversation, and diagnoses a waiting game, avoiding taking a consort by playing rivals against each other. Then they learn what the French are negotiating for: Napoleon has divorced Josephine and is free to remarry.

Chapter 12

Iskierka triumphantly returns from extensive discussions with Maila to announce that the Sapa Inca will marry Granby. She overstates: the Sapa Inca is merely considering it, tempted by the prospects of Iskierka having eggs by Maila and of British expatriates to repopulate the ayllus.

Granby is horrified by the prospect, and quietly confesses to Laurence that he is an invert, that is, he is exclusively sexually attracted to men (Iskierka later indiscreetly reveals that he and Captain Little, of Immortalis, had been involved). Laurence doesn’t actually see this as a bar to a marriage of state, and Granby is eventually browbeaten into formally presenting himself as a suitor. The meeting, however, is interrupted by the arrival of Lien and two Flammes-de-Gloire.

Chapter 13

Lien is carrying Napoleon, who has come to pay suit to the Sapa Inca in person. Maila does not want the Sapa Inca to go to France, so arranges a private meeting with the British party. But the Sapa Inca responds neither to Hammond’s “torrent of words” nor to Laurence’s warning that “[t]here are no bounds to [Napoleon’s] appetite for the conquest and subjugation of other men.” She also gives no hints of her inclinations at the later banquet, though Laurence sees “a look of cold and determined calculation in her face” as she looks at Napoleon describing the battle at Austerlitz.

Temeraire is uneasy at Lien’s claim that Celestials cannot breed with other kinds, particularly since none of the dragons in the breeding grounds had an egg by him. Iskierka is displeased that Maila is paying attention to the French Flammes-de-Gloire. Collectively, this leads them to attempting to conceive an egg that night. On their way back in the early morning, they see Incan soldiers preparing to ambush the British.

Commentary

I learned about the plagues that devastated the American continents from Charles C. Mann’s book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, which I can’t recommend highly enough. It’s clearly written, very entertaining, and extremely informative. One of its early chapters is about the Incan empire, which in 1491 was “the greatest empire on earth,” and was known as Tawantinsuyu, the Land of the Four Quarters. (Crucible updates this to eight districts (Chapter 8) and the name to Pusantinsuyo.)

As relevant here: in our world successive epidemics of smallpox and other European diseases are estimated to have killed approximately 90% of the inhabitants of Tawantinsuyu, which is literally the stuff of nightmares. And those plagues naturally had enormous consequences for society, not the least of which is that the Spanish under Pizarro walked into a civil war caused by unclear lines of succession after smallpox killed the Sapa Inca and his heir.

(Note that in Crucible, surviving smallpox increases one’s social status; Taruca’s scars are one reason he is at high risk of being stolen (Chapters 8, 10), and Anahuarque brushes hers with gold dust (Chapter 11).)

This book maintains Atahualpa’s capture and killing by the Spanish as in our history, but has the Spanish immediately killed in response by a dragon (who then commits suicide). After this the Inca were, of course, extremely reluctant to permit any further interaction with Europeans. Thus, the structure of the empire survived: a single language imposed by government, massive systems of roads, redistribution of population (Churki notes that the Sapa Inca will sometimes redistribute humans among ayllus if one dragon has lost all of theirs), and a nonmarket economy. But it is still vastly underpopulated—the current population is “scarcely three million,” compared to Britain’s ten million (Chapter 10)—and thus dragons have come into much greater prominence in public life and humans have become a precious resource.

Anahuarque is a formidable woman, and I can’t say that she’s wrong to choose to marry Napoleon, both in positive benefits and in avoiding the risk of France as an enemy. It’s just that my sympathies as a reader lie elsewhere.

A couple small notes about the culture:

I tend to be a bit of a hard sell when SFF works posit the survival of human sacrifice in Central and South American cultures, so I was glad to hear, in Chapter 9, that it’s no longer practiced—which of course makes particular sense here, given the depopulation of the country.

Characters refer to Inti, who is the sun god, and Supay, the ruler of the underworld (Palta, the first dragon they meet, associated Temeraire with Supay because he is “all black and shriveled, as though [he] had been burned up”).

Khipu (or quipu) are historical and fascinating, though apparently the extent they were a writing system as opposed to bookkeeping is still being debated.

Granby observes twenty-six distinct breeds of dragon, including one that can fly backward. (Chapter 12.)

I love Granby’s comparison of gifts given as thanks for receiving someone into the ayllu, to a dowry—yes, indeed, family structures are tied to economics in lots of ways and in many different societies. (Chapter 9.) Though I guess a bride-price is a more exact analogy.

Moving to smaller-scale matters of sex and reproduction: Granby’s use of “invert” may be slightly ahistoric, as Wikipedia suggests that it was widely used somewhat later in our world. But finding a comprehensible historical term that doesn’t have unwanted present-day connotations is not easy, so I’ll allow it. Note that conceptions of sexuality at the time did not neatly map onto present-day ones, as shown by Laurence’s understanding of homosexual activity as purely situational, something that “stem[med] from the lack of opportunity of a more natural congress,” and not something that might indicate a sexual orientation.

Laurence, Temeraire, and children. Temeraire tells Curicuillor that he hasn’t contemplated Laurence marrying (and privately considers the idea undesirable); she responds that if Laurence dies with no children, “you will be quite alone and it will serve you right, for not planning.” Later, Temeraire tells Laurence that “as for children, I had much rather have a properly trained crew.” (Chapters 10, 12.) Which is fine by Laurence, since he isn’t comfortable having children out of wedlock; I’m not sure if he realizes how much Temeraire is motivated by not wanting to share his attention.

As Granby puts it, Iskierka “has been chasing Temeraire for a year and ten thousand miles or thereabouts” in hopes of an egg with the divine wind and fire-breathing. She finally gets an egg, this book; we don’t know yet if it proves to be what she hopes.

One last thing of note: when Governor Hualpa says that “You Europeans are always lying,” Temeraire thinks, “in any case, he was Chinese.” (Chapter 9.) I don’t remember such a clear statement of his self-identity before, and so it deserved mention.

And now, on to Rio.

PART III (Chapters 14-19)

Chapter 14

They flee from the Incan dragons, and try to decide where to go: Hammond urges that their duty lies in Rio, but the most direct route across the jungle will be very difficult. Then Churki arrives, saying that it is her duty to protect Hammond because she invited him to join her ayllu. Hammond convinces her not to take him back to her mother’s territory by citing his extensive family in England.

Churki warned them that patrol dragons were very close by, and they get aloft just before the patrol arrives. Iskierka is badly wounded; Temeraire kills several of the pursuers with a particularly intense version of the divine wind.

Chapter 15

Iskierka suffers a high fever from her wounds, and Churki guides them to the Ucayali River, which leads to the Amazon River, which they follow across the continent to the eastern coast. Everyone is short-tempered from the heat, the insects, the vampire bats, the lack of coca leaves (in Hammond’s case), and the slowness of their travel, as Iskierka cannot fly for long. Worse, Granby’s arm was reinjured in the escape from the patrol dragons and he is very ill, but an attempt to amputate is interrupted by crocodiles eating the person who was going to do the surgery.

When they finally arrive at the Atlantic, Temeraire and Kulingile kill and bring back a blue whale for everyone to eat. They then head for Belém, where Granby’s arm is successfully amputated. Iskierka tricks Temeraire and Kulingile into letting her having the rest of the whale, which she renders down for sale. Granby refuses the gold-and-diamond hook she presents him with, though, and tells her flatly that he is “done with being dragged about, and made into what a lunatic might call a fashion-plate, and married off.” They settle on a serviceable steel hook and the rest of the money to go into supplies for the entire group, with later prizes to be invested in the Funds.

They arrive in Rio and find a ruined city, an enormous French dragon transport, and the Tswana dragon Kefentse.

Chapter 16

Lethabo, formerly known as Mrs. Erasmus, is directing the search for Tswana survivors along with Kefentse. She tells Laurence that the Tswana did not destroy the city, but took it after the Portuguese burned it in a panic and fled. Laurence sees the thousands of former slaves making lives in the camp and Lethabo’s work to reunite ancestor dragons with their lost kin or their descendants, to the joy and comfort of all.

Lethabo says “this is no true alliance, and our King knows better than to trust Napoleon, but we have had not much opportunity to choose our allies in this cause.” Laurence offers her an alliance with the British instead, which she says may well be necessary to avoid serious bloodshed. There had been no battles yet: the former slaves in the camp were snatched out of nearby plantations by dragons, or fled there on their own as news spread. But the rescue efforts are at a stalemate because slave-owners are now using their slaves as hostages and threatening to burn them alive if dragons approach. The stalemate will not last long, however, because more dragons are coming to the conclusion that they must attack regardless; and that will inevitably result in a “bloodbath on all sides,” as Laurence puts it.

The British go to the Portuguese government outside of Rio. Laurence tells Prince Regent João that Napoleon has allied with the Inca, that the dragons available to the Portuguese will be wholly ineffectual against heavy-weights, and that if he hopes to preserve the colony from the Inca and the French, he should make peace with the Tswana and persuade them to settle among them. (Laurence has realized how difficult it will be to return to Africa the ten thousand refugees already in Rio, let alone the remaining slaves.) He leaves the Prince Regent to think about it, but warns him that none of the dragons with him will attack the Tswana. The rest of the aviators agree, though Granby is uneasy about the promised reinforcements that are supposed to meet them. Fortunately, that will not be a problem: Lily’s formation arrives at the end of the chapter.

Chapter 17

Everyone enjoys the reunion and exchanges news. Unfortunately, this includes telling Harcourt, and everyone else, about the loss of the Allegiance and Riley’s death.

Negotiations between the Portuguese government and the Tswana begin, prompted by the arrival of Lily’s formation and another French transport with more Tswana dragons. The Portuguese seek to have the freed slaves remain on their estates, in an insultingly-transparent attempt to render their freedom ineffective. Lethabo and the Tswana general agree that the freed slaves “may be reunited with their ancestors upon the estates.” But the Portuguese do not realize that ancestors = dragons, and neither the Tswana nor Laurence enlighten them.

Many dragons are willing to stay rather than risk the dangers of crossing the Atlantic again (including Kefentse with Lethabo and her daughters), but a dozen wish to return immediately, accompanied by two thousand humans. Lethabo tells the British that “this truly is our price: all the slaves freed and reunited with their ancestors, and transport back for those who wish to go. If you cannot do it, we must yet treat with the French, and then, if the Portuguese will not free their slaves—”

Which means that for there to be peace in Portugal, the British must capture the French dragon transports.

Chapter 18

Unfortunately the French have taken considerable precaution against this possibility: the transports and the accompanying small, fast frigates are not only heavily armed but protected against dragon-landing by bags of caltrops. Moreover, the British don’t have enough humans to sail the transports.

The latter difficulty is solved when Laurence and Temeraire find a whaler which reports a British frigate nearby, and the frigate’s captain reluctantly gives up a number of his crew.

The aviators and sailors attempt to take the transports without the dragons, by creeping aboard, taking down the caltrops, and hanging chainmail netting over the transports’ guns before attacking the sailors onboard. Iskierka wakes up and rouses the rest of the dragons, who help by dropping things on the frigates: rocks, caltrops that Iskierka breathes fire on, and Lily’s acid. Maximus and Temeraire are both shot, but the transports are successfully captured.

Chapter 19

With the transports acquired, the Portuguese have grudgingly accepted the Tswana position, and the various transports are preparing to leave. Hammond is lamenting the prospect of Churki following him back to England, not to mention having to bring the news that another power has joined Napoleon, when Gong Su, the cook, brings them a very unexpected proposal: go to China instead.

It turns out that Gong Su’s master is Prince Mianning, and way back in Chapter 1 Shen Li brought Gong Su a letter from him, which directed Gong Su to invite Temeraire and Laurence to visit, “if circumstances should seem to make that desirable.” Laurence is considerably taken aback by this, and doubts Hammond’s immediate conclusion that an alliance is being proposed, but Gong Su tells him that “I have been impelled to speak as I have by those late events, which one must fear as altering for evil the very balance and the order of the world,” which makes the purpose of the visit as plain as possible.

Laurence tells Temeraire that he agrees that they should go, though their invitation is only from the crown prince and not the Emperor, and Captain Blaise of the dragon transport Potentate may not agree that they should go instead to China: “He is not Riley.” The book ends on a shared moment of grief and comfort.

Commentary

This is the book that I forgot existed. To be fair, I forgot when I started reading Blood of Tyrants, and so Laurence had forgotten too. But on a reread, it definitely didn’t deserve being forgotten: I found it quite satisfying, though its nature as “part one of three of the ending trilogy” is a little more apparent than I’d remembered.

I mean, how great was it to see Lethabo again, calmly and implacably bending the world to her will? I worry that this solution is unrealistically optimistic, I admit, remembering massacres in our history like Tulsa and Rosewood—I know there are lots of differences between the situations, I just use those as examples of the mass violence that white people in our history have been willing to employ against prosperous black communities. However, if the Tswana’s military superiority doesn’t last long enough to get Brazil past the analogous point, at least the Tswana have considerably more mobility, so I think we might reasonably hope for at least a net gain over our history.

(I’m still musing on the potential timing of U.S. emancipation in this alternate history and wondering whether, for instance, one or more of the Indian nations with dragons might take an active abolitionist stand? (Many of those nations had personal experience with slavery as practiced by Euro-Americans.) My knowledge isn’t up to creating that scenario in any depth, but it reminds me why it’s important that Lethabo be given center stage in this section: dragons may speed up the process of dismantling institutional racism, but they aren’t necessary—actual humans can do, have done, and are doing it without fantasy creatures to help.)

It was also great to see Lily and Maximus and the rest of the formation again; I’ll always have a soft spot for them, the first friends Laurence and Temeraire made in the Corps. They report that Channel duty has been very quiet: “the French dragons have nearly all gone away, to Spain or to the east, and it is only a few unharnessed beasts who fly patrol along their coast now and never come across.” Harcourt is also raising her three-year-old son to be an aviator; he “can already climb the harness from belly-netting to the captain’s seat, all by himself.” My 4.5-year-old has started doing things like this (includes me for scale), so depending on how the carabiners are designed and how the rigging is spaced, I think it’s probably within a three-year-old’s abilities. Though absolutely terrifying to a non-aviator.

I suspect that Gong Su being Prince Mianning’s agent was not in the original conception of the character, because the bit where he asks to leave before they depart China, which was already puzzling, would then become entirely inexplicable. His transformation from cook to diplomat is pretty great, though.

Finally, I had a couple paragraphs about how I couldn’t tell when this book took place, but on reading ahead this gets addressed in the next book, so I’ll just summarize: this book starts in November 1809; it should, accordingly, finish in early 1810, but a couple characters refer to it being 1811; the next book adds in several off-screen months of staying in Brazil so that its action can take place in 1812.

Next week, we land in Japan and then head across Asia for Russia and a cliffhanger. See you then.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/06/01/the-temeraire-reread-crucible-of-gold/feed/13The Temeraire Reread: Tongues of Serpentshttps://www.tor.com/2016/05/25/the-temeraire-reread-tongues-of-serpents/
https://www.tor.com/2016/05/25/the-temeraire-reread-tongues-of-serpents/#commentsWed, 25 May 2016 20:00:49 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=215245Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We continue this week with the sixth novel, Tongues of Serpents, in which we go to Australia. […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We continue this week with the sixth novel, Tongues of Serpents, in which we go to Australia. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I’ve read it, but I’m pretending I haven’t). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

PART I (Chapters 1-6)

Before the first chapter, we have a map, our first of the series. I usually go straight to the first text section when I start an ebook, instead of paging through the table of contents and dedication and so forth, so I’m not sure I noticed this before; possibly it would have been better if I had, because then I’d have been braced to go all the way across Australia.

The map is accompanied by an excerpt from An Inland Journey in Terra Australis in the year 1809, by Sipho Tsuluka Dlamini, dated 1819. He comes to publication very young, then!

Chapter 1

It is eight months after the end of Victory of Eagles, and Laurence, Granby, and Tharkay are in Sydney. They were waiting to meet a contact of Tharkay’s to get information on the colony, but are told all they need to know by a brawl sparked by an officer of the New South Wales Corps who objects to Laurence’s treason.

Temeraire is guarding the eggs from the aviators, so that they cannot tell the dragonets that they have no choice in being harnessed. He is also not impressed with Sydney, particularly since there’s no fighting there—whereas they have news that Napoleon is sacking cities all along Spain’s coast.

Chapter 2

Not only is Sydney small and out of the Napoleonic Wars, but it is the site of political intrigue: Governor Bligh has been deposed by the New South Wales Corps and exiled to Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania), and the Allegiance found him there when it stopped for water before arriving in Australia. Now Laurence is stuck between Bligh, who would want him to use Temeraire against the Corps, and the Corps, who are mutineers and thus the last people Laurence needs to be associated with. And Riley cannot stay forever: once the Allegiance‘s maintenance is complete and he gets new orders, he will have to discharge Laurence, technically a prisoner, into someone’s custody.

Laurence has already been subjected to repeated harangues from Bligh, and is in no mood to meet John MacArthur, the architect of the rebellion. MacArthur is startled to learn how far the dragons can fly to hunt—and how much they need to eat.

Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Captain Jeremy Rankin, who we last saw in His Majesty’s Dragon when Laurence forced him to say farewell to a dying Levitas. He is to be given one of the dragon eggs.

Chapter 3

Temeraire is extremely anxious about the hatching, as Rankin intends to use old-fashioned methods that give the dragonet little freedom, and the traditions of the Corps will not let anyone else interfere. Worse, Rankin expresses his desire to support Bligh, thinking it will help him retain control over the egg.

Laurence is to the point where he is seriously considering Temeraire’s suggestion of taking the egg and going inland; but the dragonet wants no part of this, and hatches. While he won’t let Rankin restrain him beyond a harness, the dragonet—who names himself Caesar—quite likes the idea of having a rich, noble captain. As Laurence says, the two of them are “admirably suited.”

Chapter 4

Caesar seems to be managing Rankin quite well, at least in terms of getting lots of food out of him; and Granby impresses upon Laurence the need for Rankin and Laurence to be on minimally-civil terms, so that their dislike does not transmit to the dragons. But Laurence and Temeraire remain in a difficult political situation, as Caesar seems entirely willing to help Bligh regain power once he’s grown, if he’ll get land out of it (for cows, of course). Temeraire, who “was beginning to understand strongly the sentiment that beggars could not be choosers,” sends a message to MacArthur.

Tharkay, meanwhile, suggests one way out to Laurence. He is in Australia on the business of the East India Company, and is certain that the Company and the Government would like Laurence to command a privateer with Temeraire. Temeraire is enthusiastic, but Laurence is hesitant.

MacArthur offers Laurence a different way out: take all the dragons on an expedition to find a passage through the Blue Mountains and set up a cattle-drive road, which would allow the aviators to establish a covert and temporarily remove themselves from politics, to everyone’s benefit. Granby is eager to go before Iskierka takes off on her own, and Rankin has no objection now that Caesar has hatched and Bligh is of little use to him.

Tharkay comes with them; Temeraire draws the conclusion that he is looking for smugglers who are bringing goods from China into Sydney. They also take a dozen convicts and the two remaining eggs.

Chapter 5

They attempt to find a pass through the mountains by following a small river. They get lost very frequently, which unsettles everyone; they feel that there is something uncanny about it. Things that don’t help: signs that the area was once populated and is now deserted; one of the convicts getting bitten by a snake or a spider and becoming very ill; and a “strange moaning song” in the distance, accompanied by drums. At the end of the chapter, Tharkay tells Laurence that he found the tracks of the singers and a trail over the ridge to another river, and takes him aside to explain about his mission for the East India Company.

Chapter 6

Temeraire was correct: Tharkay is looking for smugglers, who are somehow getting goods out of China without going through the only officially-open port of Canton. The Company fears that some sympathetic port official is letting French vessels trade, at Lien’s urging, to undercut British trade and thus its ability to fund the war.

They follow the new river out of the mountains to the perfect spot for a dragon covert—it even comes pre-supplied with cows, a sign that others have made the crossing before them. Laurence and Temeraire are delighted at the prospect of useful work and “the hope of building something rather than tearing away, to no purpose.”

Which is why, of course, that night Iskierka wakes them with the news that one of the two remaining dragon eggs has been stolen.

Commentary

As I mentioned in the summary, I’m reasonably sure that I didn’t look at the map before I started reading this book. And possibly my first reaction would have been more favorable if I had, because I was uncertain about two things. First, I wasn’t sure if were we going to stay in Sydney for any length of time, with all the misery that would come with life in a prison colony—I’d read The Nutmeg of Consolation, after all. [*] Second, once we were off traveling, I wasn’t sure if the eeriness in Chapter 5 signaled that the series was going to shift gears and introduce magic outside the dragons’ existence and capabilities. There hadn’t been any before, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be, and so I was on edge looking for any signs of that. These two early sources of uncertainty put me off-kilter, and then Rankin, ugh, and then the grinding dreariness of the travel in chapter 5, which is just the start … yeah, this is not my favorite book. (However, I do recognize and appreciate that we skip the sea journey, which was entirely appropriate and welcome.)

[*] MacArthur doesn’t appear in O’Brian’s book, but based on a quick skim to refresh my memory, that book takes a considerably more negative view of him.

Poor Laurence, who regularly wists after someplace quiet and green with livestock, and keeps having it torn out from under him! The end of last book, now here unexpectedly, and then again at the start of the next book … I smell a theme.

In news from in England, Laurence’s mother Lady Allendale held “a nice, sociable little Dinner, with every Cabinet Minister she could contrive to lay hands on,” to celebrate Jane’s becoming a peer (announced “as J. Roland, very discreet”). Jane got along quite well with the Ministers’ wives, unexpectedly: “I found them sensible Creatures all of them, and I think perhaps I have got quite the wrong Notion about them, as a Class; I expect I ought to be cultivating them. I don’t mind Society half so much if I may wear Trousers, and they were very kind, and left me their Cards.” Which is the best of the possible outcomes, and also a testament to Lady Allendale, who is well-experienced at politics via society (as Laurence recalls in the next book, watching the Sapa Inca).

And British dragons continue to make progress in entering the economy, though not without obstacles. Perscitia writes to Temeraire of how the Government tried to get them back into the breeding grounds by not sending them enough food; so they went into business as carters to buy their own, despite the efforts of Government to stop them by sending harnessed dragons. Or, as Laurence sums up Government’s likely view of events, “unharnessed heavy-weights descending as they wished into every great city of Britain, terrifying the populace and wrecking the business of ordinary carters to boot; and bribing their harnessed fellows with the greatest of ease, despite all the certain persuasions and efforts of those dragons’ captains.”

(Hey, mathematically-inclined readers: Perscitia has “worked out a very nice Method by which one can calculate the most efficient Way to go among all of [the towns], taking on some goods and leaving off others; only it grows quite tiresome to calculate if one wishes to go to more than five or six Places.” Am I right that this is the vehicle routing problem, and therefore she is considerably ahead of her time?)

Finally, Laurence and Granby have been on a first-name basis since Throne of Jade; but we’d never heard Tharkay’s first name, Tenzing, before Laurence uses it in conversation in Chapter 2. You’d think twenty dragons would suffice to put you on a first-name basis, but social customs, they were different back then.

PART II (Chapters 7-12)

Chapter 7

They suppose the missing egg to have been taken by the smugglers, and search for it for several days. Temeraire is forced to admit to himself that Iskierka’s presence is “valuable,” only “in this one instance where they were of united mind and purpose.” Tharkay finds signs of the egg’s transport, which they follow with difficulty, worrying about their water supply. One of the convicts vanishes and cannot be found, though they fly over the immediate countryside to look. The convicts—and Temeraire—become worried that the missing man is haunting them.

Chapter 8

They continue to search, with only tiny hints to give them reason to believe that they are still on the trail. One morning they come out of the forest to a “terrible and strange” land of red earth and hay-yellow grass, empty of water and visible animals, which the convicts suppose to be the underworld or possibly China. They do, however, find clear signs that the egg was transported by natives.

Iskierka and Granby return to Sydney, because they need to leave Australia on the Allegiance and Riley cannot wait forever for them, and because smugglers would have an end goal, “but the natives might go anywhere at all in their own country, and in circles if they wished.” Granby asks them to build cairns to show where they’ve gone, so that they can catch up if Riley thinks he can spare the time.

The rest go on, and spend the night at a narrow creek. In the early morning, a convict screams and then vanishes, to the bafflement of everyone sleeping near him. As they hastily leave, they find evidence that the smugglers had been there.

Chapter 9

As Caesar puts it in response to this development, “are we looking for smugglers, or natives, or the egg”? Temeraire naturally thinks they are looking for all three, but Rankin (who is unsurprisingly racist) thinks it’s ridiculous, and even Laurence and Tharkay aren’t sure why the natives would agree to smuggle for the French.

An oncoming thunderstorm sets the grass on fire, and Temeraire inhales a great deal of smoke waiting for one of the convicts, who stole a cask of rum and is trying to bring it back onboard. They eventually outfly the storm and land again.

Temeraire is in a great deal of pain from his throat; Laurence manages to convince him to stay and rest, which he does in despair of picking up the trail again. Demane finds local men out hunting and cultivating a fire. (They do not have the egg.)

The aviators go speak to the men with two of the convicts as interpreters. They find that the local men do not speak the same language the convicts know—but are wearing porcelain beads. They manage to establish that the beads came from “Pitjantjatjara” and “Larrakia,” far to the north and west, and that the vanished men were taken by monsters called “bunyips.”

They return to the camp to find that the last egg is hatching.

Chapter 10

That egg had been the “disappointing and extremely stunted little thing which had unaccountably been produced out of a Parnassian and a Chequered Nettle, both heavy-weights” (Chapter 3). The resulting dragonet is painfully skinny, has trouble breathing, and cannot fly. Rankin and the rest of the aviators see it as their duty to kill him, as he is not fit for service and cannot fend for himself. Laurence has nearly talked Temeraire into feeding him regardless, when Demane harnesses him and names him Kulingile (which means “all is well,” and is pronounced “Kulingheelay,” per Chapter 17).

Rankin considers Kulingile Demane’s pet, and not a matter for the Admiralty at all; Emily Roland scolds Demane “dragging it out for the poor thing and everyone.” Dorset thinks that Kulingile’s air-sacs have collapsed and are pressing on his lungs, and that without the air-sacs, he will crush his own organs under his weight. Which continues to increase rapidly, as Kulingile is constantly, genuinely ravenous.

At a water-hole, one of the convicts “stepped across to the other side … and was gone: a red flashing of jaws, talons, tremendous speed—then he was jerked down and away; the bushes rustled over him once and were still.” Temeraire discovers trap-doors of a sort, openings concealed by mats of dirt and branches, but cannot find the bunyip or the convict. They leave hastily.

Chapter 11

They land at another water-hole. The dragons investigate and find no bunyips but tunnels everywhere, giving the area “a strange, nightmarish ant-hill quality.” They fill in the tunnels they’ve found and stay in that area, on Caesar’s suggestion.

Temeraire’s throat is still blistered from the fire, making eating difficult, and his breathing is still affected. They come to a salt lake and find signs that it’s on the smuggler’s trail.

At the next water-hole, the bunyips trap Temeraire in a quicksand pit by diverting water overnight. As the aviators attempt to pull him out with ropes, the bunyips attack and carry away a couple of the men; Roland’s cool head under fire is particularly useful in driving the bunyips away. Just as Temeraire finally emerges from the quicksand, Iskierka and Granby return.

Chapter 12

As they continue on, water-holes dry up everywhere; Caesar is nearly buried in a sink-hole that opens under him; and their soup-pit is drained. They finally give in and start leaving game for the bunyips, which is taken with frightening stealth and speed but seems to stop the attacks.

Tharkay decides that the trail is cold enough that they should simply fly along the direction they were told by the local men in Chapter 9, hoping to find some central location. They come to “enormous and uncanny domes” of red rock “clustering together in the absence of all other company,” camp the night, and the morning see “one last monolith standing at a distance: alone, wholly alone”—with a dragon being loaded with bundles, humans, and the missing dragon egg. Temeraire and Iskierka lunge aloft, but the other dragon has absolutely enormous wings and easily outpaces them. Temeraire tries to use the divine wind, but only aggravates the injuries he received in the fire.

Commentary

I mentioned the travel?

I usually have a lot of trouble keeping these summaries to a moderate length, and am constantly going back and cutting entire incidents out, collapsing two paragraphs into one, and so forth. That has been largely not necessary here. Certainly, there are exciting bits and interesting bits, but the ratio of those to grinding dreariness is … not optimal, for my tastes at least.

Travel. “Pitjantjatjara” and “Larrakia” are both peoples; the Pitjantjatjara are the ones who live around Uluru, the solitary monolith where they see the long-winged dragon. (The monoliths they come to first may be the Kata Tjuta? They are a little west of Uluru and the aviators are coming from the east, but the map shows them coming there at a bit of an angle.) We’ll meet the Larrakia next part. I don’t think we got a name for the people in Chapter 9, but deliberate use of fire to manage the land was definitely a historicalpractice of Aboriginal people. (It’s hard for me to see how the plot could have been rearranged to get more people and less landscape, and at a certain point I just have to shrug and accept that a book is interested in different things than I’m interested in.)

So bunyips are real! Or, rather, in our world, the name is attached to a creature that, according to traditional Aboriginal beliefs across the continent, lurks in swamps, creeks, and waterholes. I do quite like how creepy these bunyips are—especially once their intelligence is made clear. Put them in the same cateogory as the sea-serpents. (Also I find the word “bunyip” very pleasing.)

Speaking of intelligence becoming clear, though on a totally different scale: in Chapter 8, Laurence remembers the lesson of the Tswana and is not “so easily dismissive” as Rankin of the idea that the local people would be intelligent, sophisticated, and powerful. And he’s right, though in a different direction than the Tswana.

Rankin remains a jerk. Caesar is kind of hilariously awful and wonderful, the way he manages Rankin—in the Epilogue MacArthur outright says that he talks to Caesar first when he wants to get Rankin to do something. But even the two of them occasionally have sensible ideas or contribute a useful point to discussion; I think anyone who’s in the series for more than a chapter or two gets to demonstrate that they’re not permanently, thoroughly, inevitably wrong.

Which brings us to Kulingile’s hatching. The text does successfully convey how, when most of the aviators think Kulingile should be killed, they are not being cruel by their fundamental beliefs. But the text ought to disagree with them on moral grounds, based on the entire series to date, and I’m not sure that comes across clearly enough, as opposed to showing that they’re wrong on the practical level of Kulingile’s survival. Laurence is pretty much the only one who thinks killing Kulingile would be morally wrong, and even he has moments of doubt; this is in marked contrast to the various characters’ reactions to slavery, for instance, or taking the cure to France. But if, as we have established over the series, dragons are morally equivalent to humans—and not their pets—then imagining the same conversations about a human infant should, I trust, make apparent the problems with the aviators’ position. Sadly, the opinions they hold are far from unknown today (content note: child homicide, ableism).

Okay, that was … surprisingly upsetting! Let’s treat each other gently in the comments if we discuss this, everyone, and meanwhile, actually get somewhere in this fictional Australia.

PART III (Chapters 13-17)

Chapter 13

They chase the long-winged dragon without success; Granby thinks she hadn’t even seen them, and they speculate where such a feat of breeding might have come from, especially in a dragon-less land.

Temeraire has burst multiple blood vessels in his throat and is forbidden from roaring and, as much as possible, speaking, which he takes about as well as one would expect. Fortunately “there was nothing very much to talk about”; the other dragon seems to have been headed on a straight course for a known bay on the north coast of the continent, so they simply head that way.

Kulingile is now over three months old, and one morning starts floating in his sleep, like a balloon: his air-sacs have finally permanently inflated. (They temporarily did when he was helping pull Temeraire out of the quicksand.) Dorset, their dragon-surgeon, says that his negative weight is a sign that he should be expected to be at least as large as a Regal Copper. This leads to the aviators resenting Demane for having harnessed a heavy-weight, instead of resenting him for having harnessed something useless. One of the aviators tries to replace Demane by feeding Kulingile; Demane confronts him; and when the aviator slaps Demane, Kulingile is stopped from killing him only by Demane’s urging. (Also, Demane has a teenage crush on Roland (he is probably fourteen).)

Somewhere over five hundred miles from the monolith, they finally come out of the desert. Arriving at the ocean at night, they see lights and decide to scout in the morning. When they wake, they find a native man named Galandoo, a Chinese pavilion with a ship outside, and two dragons.

Chapter 14

The outpost is indeed Chinese-built, but the local Larrakia are working in harmony there. One of the dragons is Tharunka, who hatched from the stolen Yellow Reaper egg; she explains that she was taken to be an interpreter among the different tribes in the trading network. She declines to return with them, as she does not like the British officers specifically or the idea of being tied to a particular captain generally.

They also meet Lung Shen Li, the long-winged dragon, who can make it to China in two weeks; she is one of the first of a breed that was originally created by the Ming and is now being recreated after Prince Yonxing’s death in Throne of Jade. The aviators know the British Government will strongly dislike the Chinese decision to reach out for trade, but are unsure what can be done, as they are outside James Cook’s claim. They rest and recuperate and then are invited to a banquet.

The banquet turns out to be a public affair, with the arrival of Macassan praus and American, Dutch, and Portuguese trading vessels. There, the British are caught up to speed on the attacks on Spain, mentioned early in the book: the cities were destroyed by the Tswana, not the French. But when the Tswana moved on to Toulon in France, Napoleon came to some arrangement with the Tswana and sent them to Brazil on transports, where they have burned Rio to the ground.

At the end of the banquet, they finally discover where are the trade goods from China were coming from: underwater, in enormous water-tight chests carried by trained sea-serpents.

Chapter 15

The British dragons watch the trading with a great deal of pleasure and envy. The British humans are distressed at the quantity of goods being exchanged and the certain prospect of more to come, as more sea-serpents are trained to the work, word gets out, and the port develops into a real city—all of which will collectively wreck the British trade out of Canton and potentially give the French a port from which to prey on British shipping. (The smuggled goods into Sydney are indeed “incidental,” as Tharkay suggested in the prior chapter; any Chinese goods that cannot be sold are given to the Larrakia in partial payment for using their country, and the Larrakia then trade the goods on.)

The chapter ends with a British frigate arriving.

Chapter 16

The frigate is the Nereide, accompanied by a sloop, the Otter. Willoughby is in command and has orders to take the port, by destroying it if possible. Laurence attempts to negotiate some agreement between Willoughby and the Chinese chief of the outpost, Jia Zhen, but neither are inclined to move—Willoughby is still furious over the Chinese commandeering of Company ships in Throne, and Jia is secure in the knowledge that the British argument about treaty violations is specious.

Willoughby orders the aviators to stay out of it. Laurence disagrees with the decision, but tells Temeraire that he will not interfere because it is “an open and honest act of warfare” and he has no reason to think Willoughby will refuse to give quarter. Temeraire works out how to create Lien’s massive wave and shows Laurence, but Laurence will have no part of it even as a threat, which distresses Temeraire extremely. But so does a cannon fired into the pavilion; his self-control is being put to the test when Iskierka comes out and dunks him.

In the end, the port is well-able to defend itself: Tharunka flies out a handful of men who dump rotting fish and seaweed over the ships, which sets the many sea-serpents in the bay into a frenzy. Both ships are badly damaged and must be dragged onto reefs by the dragons to save as many sailors as possible.

Though Tharunka and the Larrakia participate in rescue efforts, once the sea-serpents have quieted, they tell the British that it is time for them to go.

Chapter 17

They fly back to Sydney, never seeing any people but aware that they are being watched; the trip takes them “half the autumn” even on dragonback. The large salt lake they found on the way has receded to something undrinkable, and “the disappointment felt something of a parting slap, contemptuous, from the wild back-country: a reminder they were not welcome.”

In Sydney, they find Governor Macquarie, Bligh’s replacement, and a dozen sea-serpents, which are apparently passing Sydney on their way to a new harbor (one of the long-range dragons has been seen nearby as well). Macquarie, Willoughby, and Rankin intend to destroy the sea-serpents; MacArthur and Johnston manage to avoid going back to England for their trials by offering to help.

Iskierka and Granby are finally leaving on the Allegiance (for Brazil, since Portugal is Britain’s ally and calling for help against the Tswana), and Tharkay is off to Istanbul to tell the East India Company what he has learned. Laurence formally declines the suggestion that he and Temeraire take up privateering.

And then there is a rebellion in the town. Rankin intends to take Caesar down to fight, but Laurence sees that the fighting has stopped and tells Temeraire not to let Caesar take the air to be turned against civilians.

Epilogue

MacArthur claims “it is not a real rebellion,” but that Macquarie’s following of orders, made without full understanding of the situation, would prompt “a war we cannot win.” He wants Laurence to take charge of the covert, but Laurence refuses.

Macquarie tells Laurence that if they can catch the Allegiance, they will return to bring Temeraire to serve out Laurence’s sentence in India. Laurence declines not only to be “trundle[d] … over the ocean to a pen in India, only to keep us from MacArthur’s powers of persuasion,” but to take up “honorable” work that might lead to a pardon.

They would not be asked to defend England, or liberty, or anything worthy of service: only to assist at one spiteful destruction or another. He found in himself only a great longing for something cleaner. “No,” he said finally. “I am sick of the quarrels of nations and of kings, and I would not give ha’pence for any empire other than our valley, if that can content your ambition.”

“Oh! It can, very well,” Temeraire said, brightening. “Will we go there tomorrow, then? I have been thinking, Laurence, we might have a pavilion up before the winter.”

Commentary

The Acknowledgments section of this book thanks Novik’s “longtime beta readers Georgina Paterson and Vanessa Len, who … helped me work out the plot for the last three forthcoming books of the Temeraire series over lunch in Sydney.” So, for people who read Acknowledgments, it’s clear that this is not the last book, and yet quite a few people seemed to have stopped reading here. I’d love to hear why; if it had been me, it would be that there was an end in sight, so I might as well leave Laurence happy until I knew if the series stuck the landing.

The character development for Laurence and Temeraire over this book is pretty low-key, mostly confirming the sets of mind that they’ve come to over the last couple of books. We’re introduced to a couple of new supporting characters I should probably mention. First, there’s the “competent clod” Lieutenant Forthing, who Temeraire doesn’t like because he’s shabby—which Laurence excuses because he was taken in by the Corps as a foundling who crept into the coverts to sleep next to dragons—and because he said that Laurence was going to be put to hard labour—which Laurence doesn’t know about. Second, there’s O’Dea, a convicted Irishman with “a gift for inconvenient poetry,” who predicts a lot of doom and gloom but is at least literate and will end up on Temeraire’s ground-crew. (I find him kind of boring?)

I did appreciate the existence of the trading port, how competently and collaboratively it was run, and that it didn’t need Laurence and Temeraire at all: some people might understandably find that last part a little dramatically unsatisfying, but its ability to defend itself follows so naturally from its reason for existence that it doesn’t bother me in the least.

The different characters at the trading port also give us a few tidbits about the United States. At the banquet, we meet “a Mr. Jacob Chukwah, of New York,” whose brother is an aviator “on the run from New York to the Ojibwe,” carrying trade goods, and who tells the guests that “the Iroquois hatched thirty-two [dragons] in New York alone this last year.” We also hear that “there is no shortage of slaves” in the United States; as mentioned in the discussion of Empire of Ivory, while the number of people shipped from Africa to the United States was far smaller than to Brazil or the Caribbean, the total U.S. slave population was still relatively significant because of positive population growth. Unfortunately I don’t feel up to extrapolating U.S. history based on the existence of the Tswana Kingdom, on the one hand, and increased commercial power of American Indian nations and ease of transporting goods, on the other.

Finally for now, a note on timing: this book probably ends somewhere in early-mid 1809 (the big battle in Victory was March 1808, this book opens eight months later, they travel more than three months on their outward journey, and then return at least halfway through autumn, Southern-hemisphere style).

Next week, off to Brazil, in possibly the most O’Brian-esque of the books to date. See you then.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/05/25/the-temeraire-reread-tongues-of-serpents/feed/17The Temeraire Reread: Victory of Eagleshttps://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/the-temeraire-reread-victory-of-eagles/
https://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/the-temeraire-reread-victory-of-eagles/#commentsWed, 18 May 2016 18:00:52 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=214244Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We continue this week with the fifth novel, Victory of Eagles, in which Napoleon invades England. You […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We continue this week with the fifth novel, Victory of Eagles, in which Napoleon invades England. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I’ve read it, but I’m pretending I haven’t). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

Also, before we go into spoilers: if you wear nail polish, or you know someone who does, check out these very cool colors from NerdLacquer: Celestial, Regal Copper, and Longwing.

PART I (Chapters 1-6)

Chapter 1

It is fall 1807 and Temeraire is in the breeding grounds in Wales, along with a few hundred feral or retired dragons. He is uneasy at being asked to mate “indiscriminately” and miserable with anxiety over Laurence’s safety.

Temeraire avoids the company of other dragons at first, but he makes the acquaintance of Perscitia based on a shared love of mathematics. She introduces him to Moncey, a Winchester who will leave the grounds and blend in with other couriers to get information. Temeraire asks him to find out if Laurence is still alive.

Shifting to Laurence’s POV, we find that he is imprisoned on HMS Goliath, which is on blockade and under attack as “an enormous flotilla” of French troop transports heads across the Channel. Laurence contributes to the Goliath getting free from the cables that dragons had used to keep it from fighting; the ship turns to go after the transports, even though that means passing between two heavily-armed French ships.

Outside, the first transports were already hurtling themselves onward to the shore, light-weight dragons wheeling above to shield them while they ran artillery onto the ground, and one soldier rammed the standard into the dirt, the golden eagle atop catching fire with the sunlight: Napoleon had landed in England at last.

Chapter 2

While Temeraire waits for news, Requiescat, a Regal Copper, demands Temeraire’s cave, which he has put some effort into improving. Temeraire refuses and Requiescat takes the matter to the council that governs disputes in the breeding grounds. During the meeting, Moncey returns with news: the Goliath was sunk with all hands this morning. Temeraire instinctively lets loose the divine wind in response, cracking open a solid stone wall.

Chapter 3

Laurence did, of course, get off the Goliath before she sank. In Dover, he is imprisoned in the attic of a sponging-house and reflects on his postponed sentence of death and other consequences of his treason. In the early morning,

The knob rattled in the door, and the door opened. Laurence turned and stopped, staring, at the man on the other side: the familiar but unexpected lean face, travel-leathered, and the Oriental features. “I hope I find you in good health,” Tharkay said. “Will you come with me? I believe there is still a danger of fire.”

Tharkay returned to England three weeks ago with another dozen feral dragons with him. Admiral Jane Roland commissioned him as a captain and sent him to find Laurence: Napoleon has landed fifty thousand men, who are still on the coast, and two hundred dragons, who are heading deep inland. Laurence finds comfort in Tharkay’s unchanged behavior, but painful temptation in Tharkay’s offer to say that he had not found Laurence. He declines, though he can articulate no reason why.

At a meeting of the military commanders, Laurence discovers that Jane had not been in command at the disaster at Dover. Helped by support from a General Wellesley, she is given the command again. The generals also agree to have Temeraire brought back by Laurence (Wellesley: “He’s a sentimentalist, isn’t he—surrendered himself? Damned romantic. What difference does it make? Hang him after.”).

Jane makes it clear to Laurence that their relationship must be on a strictly professional basis. At dinner, Laurence’s presence sparks a brawl; Granby pulls him out, and tells him of his despair over Iskierka’s refusal to listen to orders. In further catching-up, Demane and Sipho are still working for the Corps, and Maximus has not forgotten his and Lily’s promise (in His Majesty’s Dragon, chapter 11) not to let their captains be hanged—which, as Berkley says, is doubtless why Laurence was not imprisoned on land.

Elsie, captained by Hollin, Laurence’s former ground-crew master, takes Laurence to Wales: but when they land at sunset, the breeding grounds are completely empty.

Chapter 4

The morning after Temeraire heard of Laurence’s death, Perscitia and Moncey coax him into eating and activity, and Temeraire decides to fight. He convinces the other dragons that they can use tactics of their own creation to defend their territory and take prizes. They leave immediately for London, where they expect to find Napoleon’s army within the week.

Chapter 5

Laurence and Hollin go to the nearest settlement and learn that all the dragons left that morning. They follow the dragons’ trail over the next couple of days, but then it vanishes …

… because Temeraire had them all fly at night to avoid French dragons. Things are going well except for supply, so Temeraire decides they will take the livestock that the French army has been raiding from farms. This is both sensible strategy and an outlet for his almost-involuntary rage, which he is having difficulty suppressing—but does, knowing his responsibility to the others.

The next day, they find a French camp, which they successfully attack and take possession of. Prompted by Gentius, a retired Longwing, Perscitia (who does not like to fight) successfully turns the local militia into a proper gun-crew.

Chapter 6

Laurence and Hollin head back toward the Army, and are alarmed to hear in Twickenham (a bit west of London) that two French regiments have been dropped nearby by dragons to take livestock. They are found by another courier, who is carrying a colonel’s commission for “[s]ome bright militia-officer [who] has raised the countryside and beat them properly over at Wembley, and at Harlesden last night,” capturing one of the regimental standards known as an eagle.

They go with the courier and are attacked by a French heavy-weight; the other dragon is injured and Elsie is nearly caught, until an unharnessed Regal Copper defeats the French dragon. The Regal brings them to Temeraire’s camp, to Laurence’s surprise and joy.

Temeraire sees Laurence and initially thinks he is a ghost, but is shortly convinced of Laurence’s solidity. “Temeraire gave a low joyful cry and curled around him tightly and said, ‘Oh, Laurence; I shall never let anyone take you from me again.'”

Commentary

I know that this book gets grim later, but I love how it starts so much. Not only being in media res—pacing is not a problem in this book!—but how much the situation pushes Temeraire out of his comfort zone and forces him to take responsibility and act independently. And when you combine that with all the fun, clever worldbuilding of the dragons creating their military force, well, I really enjoyed that, even though I have to give the details short shrift because these posts need some kind of length control.

I also love Temeraire’s POV, though to me—and this may just be my immersion in the series overall, because at any given time I’m writing about one book but reading ahead to take notes about a later one—it doesn’t read that differently from Laurence’s. I’m talking about sentence structure, vocabulary, and other things on that level: there are sections where no-one’s named at the start and I had to go several paragraphs before I was sure who’s POV I’m in. This isn’t a criticism, just an observation, that the series’ relatively distant and formal third-person narration is continued in Temeraire’s POV. Temeraire’s narration is funnier, and it’s good to get away from Laurence’s head once we get into what I think of as the Mordor section of this book (more on that later), but to me it’s less a revelation of character than useful logistically, because Temeraire’s personality was already pretty well WYSIWYG.

Let’s talk about some secondary characters. Tharkay! Remember the scene when he comes to free Laurence, because Laurence will, rather unexpectedly, in the penultimate book. I admit that sometimes he’s a little close to being the narrative’s mouthpiece, between his blunt speech and his outsider perspective on morality and duty, which is closer to modern audiences than Laurence’s. [*] But he’s so himself that I’ll allow it. (Also, he has a new hawk, to replace the one killed in the avalanche in Black Powder War.)

[*] It is genuinely hard for me to empathize with Laurence regarding his death sentence in this section. This is partly because he doesn’t really understand why he’s willing to be executed, and partly because I don’t do religious guilt or believe in the death penalty. I can intellectually comprehend that the cumulative weight of all Laurence’s social conditioning leads him to this belief, but it’s another past-is-foreign-country moment.

I love Perscitia immensely: she’s a great example of how there are many ways for characters—most particularly female characters—to be competent and effective and interesting, even in a military context. I didn’t particularly think we needed the letter excerpted at the back of Black Powder War doubting the intelligence of dragons, but if it gets us Perscitia hearing Temeraire humiliate the letter’s author with the Pythagorean theorem, I’ll take it.

I also love Jane “appall[ing] her audience of generals and ministers into silence” by saying, effectively, “yeah, I have sex, so?” Also being so good at her job that even the person who’d been in command admits that she should’ve been (Sanderson, who had previously been passed over for command at Dover during the dragon plague).

Speaking of generals, I confess I didn’t realize that Wellesley = Wellington until the end of the book, when he’s created a Duke and referred to by his new name. (There is one place where he’s mistakenly referred to as Wellington before then, in Chapter 9, but I didn’t register it.) What an excellently, vividly abrasive portrait he’s given here: a hard-headed practicality that makes him unsympathetic to Laurence but allows him to recognize Jane’s competence and work well with her. More on that at the end.

While on military stuff: in Chapter 7, Wellesley says that Nelson was sent to Copenhagen with twenty ships two weeks ago, which is when Napoleon saw his chance to invade. I think this is probably a revised Second Battle of Copenhagen? I say revised because (1) in our history, the British set sail in July 1807, and in the books, they didn’t return from Africa until August 1807 (the invasion probably takes place in early November); and (2) Wellesley was at our history’s version of that battle.

Let’s wrap up this section up by highlighting the discussion Laurence and Granby have in Chapter 3 about how Iskierka won’t listen to anyone. Granby says he never wanted to be a bad officer, the kind that’s “kept on because his beast won’t serve otherwise” and that gives the Corps a bad reputation.

“But if we have more liberty than we ought,” Laurence said, after a moment, struggling through, “it is because they have not enough: the dragons. They have no stake in victory but our happiness; their daily bread any nation would give them just to have peace and quiet. We are given license so long as we do what we ought not: so long as we use their affections to keep them obedient and quiet, to ends which serve them not at all—or which harm.”

“How else do you make them care?” Granby said. “If we left off, the French would only run right over us, and take our eggs themselves.”

“They care in China,” Laurence said, “and in Africa, and care all the more, that their rational sense is not imposed on, and their hearts put into opposition with their minds. If they cannot be woken to a natural affection for their country, such as we feel, it is our fault and not theirs.”

I went right by this passage the first time I read it, but it’s a really nice little thematic encapsulation of this theme of the series, and with a slightly new angle on it, not just “treat dragons as sentient beings” but “bring them into full civic participation.” Which we will see a contrasting example of in the next chapter, when Temeraire is at the military conference, so let’s move on.

Part II (Chapters 7-12)

Chapter 7

Laurence tries to convince Temeraire to return to the Army, not understanding at first that Temeraire is the commander of the force. Temeraire steamrolls past his confusion, telling the courier that he will accept the colonel’s commission and that “Napoleon will be attacking London in two days.” But the next day, a scout tells them it will be even sooner, that night. Temeraire’s force breaks camp very rapidly and joins the Army at Plumstead (on the east of London, south of the Thames).

Wellesley offers Laurence a pardon if he can make Temeraire obey. Laurence tells him that he cannot, that Wellesley must speak with Temeraire himself and advise him of the battle plan. Wellesley agrees.

At the subsequent conference, most of the generals are confident: they have picked their ground and can match the thirty thousand men they believe Napoleon has brought to London. Wellesley and Jane think they should retreat, because they don’t believe it’s only thirty thousand and they want time to integrate the new dragons. But they are overruled, and Temeraire’s force is directed to stop the Fleur-de-Nuits from bombarding the British forces overnight—after a tense moment when one general gives Temeraire nonsensical specific orders and threatens to hang Laurence if he will not obey, and Temeraire threatens to join Napoleon if they do. Laurence despairs, fearing for Temeraire’s very safety from the British military, but the dragons are left to work out tactics against the Fleur-de-Nuits on their own.

Chapter 8

Under Jane’s guidance, Temeraire and Perscitia successfully direct the creation of a decoy camp for the Fleur-de-Nuits to bomb.

In the morning, the aerial battle shows that the British have learned the lessons of Jena: Perscitia puts dummies on the unharnessed dragons to tempt French boarding parties, and the harnessed British heavy-weights are able to drop their bombs. Laurence directs Temeraire at a weakness on one of the French flanks, where his force is able to stop the advance.

The aerial battle then “settle[s] into the steadier, grinding work of attrition.” While Temeraire is resting, Jane tells them that Napoleon and Lien are both there. Temeraire asks where Marshal Davout is; Jane tells him that he was last reported in Portugal, but Temeraire says that “we saw him north of London, two days ago.” Jane immediately recognizes the trap and sounds the alarm; Laurence and Temeraire go high aloft and see that “Davout was coming, directly for their rear, with thirty dragons and twenty thousand men.”

Chapter 9

The scant advance warning allowed the British to at least attempt to escape the trap. “Wellesley fought a brilliant rear-guard action, bloody and terrible,” but ten thousand men were taken prisoner by the French and the rest escaped with barely any supplies. The infantry and cavalry head for the central depot in Weedon Bec, while the dragons carry the cannon far ahead for safety. Jane divides up the dragons into companies that can be fed off the deer on large estates, and Laurence feels it his duty to go to his family’s home.

Laurence’s oldest brother George tells him that their father has been ill since August (a.k.a. Laurence’s treason) and denies him permission to come into the house. Lady Allendale, Laurence’s mother, comes outside to see the aviators (with Gong Su, the cook from China, who she hired and who will rejoin the crew), and meets Jane and Emily, who she incorrectly believes to Laurence’s daughter. Jane finds this very funny, but she also tells Laurence how hard it is to watch him martyr himself.

Temeraire’s force is dissatisfied at the defeat and the lack of prizes. He takes them to negotiate pay with Wellesley, at Laurence and Jane’s suggestion, as Jane had already wanted to send dragons back to cover the infantry when it leaves Weedon. (She thinks Lien, like Temeraire, has talked unharnessed dragons out of the breeding grounds.) Temeraire rejects Wellesley’s attempts to buy off only the two of them with money and a pardon, and Laurence negotiates with Wellesley for the dragons to be paid wages, to be given the right to go where they like and to accept paying work, and to be allowed to use a network of coverts that will be established for shelter and food. The dragons are very pleased, but Laurence finds “maneuvering for personal interest” highly distasteful.

Temeraire’s force covers the Army as it leaves, which is boring. Iskierka, Arkady, and some of the other Turkestan ferals wander off looking for treasure or excitement, which results in Iskierka’s capture.

Chapter 10

Laurence and Tharkay go into London to rescue Granby and Iskierka. They learn that Napoleon is in Kensington Palace, and Iskierka and Lien are in the park outside. Laurence suggests, based on his assessment of Napoleon as “unreasonably fond of seduction,” that Granby might be in Kensington Palace, which they decide to investigate for lack of anything better. It is night by the time they head that way, and they are forced to wait for the street to clear outside a grand party—outside the house rented by Bertram Woolvey, who (a) married Laurence’s childhood sweetheart Edith Galman and (b) comes home and sees Laurence lurking.

To avoid drawing attention, Laurence and Tharkay hustle Woolvey into the house. Laurence attempts to leave quickly for the family’s safety (they are still in London because the baby has measles), but is forced to explain and, eventually, to let Woolvey take them in his carriage to a house near the palace grounds, to help if Laurence is telling the truth and to hinder otherwise.

Laurence, Tharkay, and Woolvey sneak into the palace grounds and learn from some British workmen that Granby is upstairs. They disguise themselves with French uniforms taken from soldiers they disable or kill, go into the palace, and free Granby to call for Iskierka out the window; but Woolvey is shot and killed.

Chapter 11

Temeraire anxiously waits for Laurence, who finally appears on Iskierka’s back, pursued unsuccessfully by several French middle-weights. (It’s not mentioned, but Lien’s poor eyesight would have kept her from pursuing.)

When they return to the Army, Wellesley lectures Iskierka and Temeraire about discipline and then asks where the French troops are. Though he initially does not believe they have made it back to London so quickly, Perscitia explains how the French dragons are cutting march times by leapfrogging infantry ahead. Wellesley pep-talks the Coldstream Guards into setting an example by letting themselves also be carried by dragons, and ultimately Wellesley’s force makes it to Scotland in two weeks instead of a month.

They arrive at Loch Laggan to find a French dragon waiting for them with a flag of parley.

Chapter 12

Outside, the English-speaking French dragon attempts to seduce away the British dragons; inside, Laurence is reunited with Riley. In Chapter 8, we learned that Harcourt was recovering from the difficult birth of a ten-pound boy; an exhausted Riley tells Laurence that she and the rest of Lily’s formation left for the coast three days ago, leaving the baby with a wet-nurse (“Do you know, they must be fed every two hours”?).

Talleyrand and Murat are the French envoys, who successfully manage to sow dissension and tempt some of the British leaders into considering surrender, because they believe that if they wait, Napoleon will land even more troops. Then Jane Roland bangs in, fresh from battle, to report that the Corps and Navy have just defeated another French attempt to cross the Channel: “taken six, sunk four, burnt two, of ships-of-the-line; and not a thousand men landed of sixty.” Wellesley seizes the moment and is put in command; the French envoys are asked to leave.

Wellesley and Jane settle that Jane will bring up the rest of the Army via dragons on patrol, and that Wellesley will figure out how to get Napoleon to come out of London. Temeraire and the unharnessed dragons go on patrol, but supply is becoming scarce as farmers hide their herds. Wellesley summons Laurence, Iskierka, and “the best fighters you have, and the more vicious the better”; Laurence does not protest to Jane, feeling that he cannot burden her.

At Edinburgh Castle, while waiting for Wellesley, Laurence meets the King, who has slipped out in the rain in nightshirt and slippers, mistakes Laurence for Murat, and thinks everyone wants to kill him. Servants come and shepherd the King back inside.

Laurence stood in the courtyard behind the closing door, rain running down his sleeves and his face like blood; stood and said aloud, “O God, I wish I had not done it.”

Commentary

I am not entirely sure how I feel about the Woolvey family. Or rather, not about the people in it, but about their effect on Laurence and their position in the story.

As people, I think they get as much nuance as possible in the very short amount of space they’re present for. Edith continues to show a particular kind of bravery and honor, the kind that finds dishonor in holding other people back. Bertram is not favorably positioned in the narrative initially, but he, too, is granted complexity: beyond his bravery, Laurence is forced to admit that for someone who had “nothing to do but spend money,” he “had chosen … to establish himself respectably, with a wife no man could blush for” (and who, Laurence observes, seems content).

Then, of course, Woolvey insists on going to the Palace with them, not just bringing them to the grounds, and gets killed. Tharkay thinks he is trying to live up to Laurence’s reputation for bravery, which I suppose could make him an example of the dangers of unthinking pride / fragile masculinity / whatever. But to me it feels more like his role—and Edith’s role as his widow—is to be another straw on Laurence’s back (material for his hair shirt, grist for his angst mill, and so on and so forth). And one might well argue that you need a lot of straws to get Laurence to the end of this part, where he wishes he had not taken the cure to France, which is entirely reasonable. But … something about it still feels a little too much to me. Other people’s mileage undoubtedly varies.

While I’m talking about mild dissatisfactions, the French ambush is a notable example of plot that only happens because of a failure to communicate, that is, no-one properly debriefs Temeraire and he doesn’t think to tell anyone that he saw Davout off-screen. I know they were all in a terrible hurry, but I would expect Jane or Laurence, at least, to remember that kind of thing.

Speaking of human-dragon interactions: Laurence is, by the way, wrong to feel like he’s “maneuvering for personal interest” when he negotiates dragon pay and rights with Wellesley in chapter 9. He’s said so himself: it’s critically important for military effectiveness to treat dragons fairly and well, plus it’s the right thing to do. He just has an upper-class person’s distaste for the details of having to earn a living, and wishes that everyone might live on virtue and patriotism, like photosynthesis. … sorry, that was too mean. He’s depressed about his treason, which is unfairly coloring his reaction to what, in other times, he would recognize as a victory.

I greatly enjoyed the meeting of Laurence’s mother and Jane Roland, by the way (Lady Allendale’s reaction of “fascination” to the existence of female aviators, rather than shock, speaks volumes about her) and am sorry we don’t get to see the dinner-party Lady Allendale throws Jane in the next book.

Some smaller notes:

The long arc of Temeraire and Iskierka’s egg starts in chapter 7, when Iskierka announces to Temeraire that “I have decided that you may give me an egg.” (He doesn’t want to.)

Poor Celeritas has been exiled to breeding grounds in Ireland because of Laurence and Temeraire’s treason.

Temeraire brings in sixty unharnessed dragons, which Laurence thinks “would make Temeraire’s army very nearly the equal to the Corps in strength, at least those forces presently in England and under harness.” (Chapter 7.) This puts in perspective the broken promise to send Prussia twenty dragons in Black Powder War. (Note that the series is not always consistent its logistics, see prior comments about dragon populations and also, just how many ships-of-the-line were there at the final battle in this book? But take this as order-of-magnitude.)

In Chapter 12, Tharkay leads them to “an estate with several handsome dairy farms,” just over the border into Scotland, which Laurence infers is the estate involved in Tharkay’s mysterious law-suit, but Tharkay continues to not offer details.

PART III (Chapters 13-16)

Chapter 13

While Temeraire waits for Laurence to come back from meeting with Wellesley, he worries that Laurence is angry with him for being dismissed the service and losing his fortune (because of the law-suit brought by the slavers last book), both of which he has just found out about.

Laurence comes back, hands written orders to each captain, and directs them orally to stop Napoleon’s irregulars from taking supplies from British farms: no prisoners to be taken, no quarter to be given.

In flashback to Laurence’s POV, Wellesley directs him to use these tactics to help force Napoleon out of London. Laurence recognizes the soundness of the strategy but recoils at using dragons this way. Nevertheless, he agrees:

There was little enough Laurence could now do, to repair what he had done; he could not restore the lives of the slain, or raise up ships from the Channel floor that had been sunk, or make recompense to all the ordinary countrymen whose livelihood and possessions had been raided away by an invading army. He could not repair his father’s health, or the King’s, or Edith’s happiness. But he had already stained himself irrevocably with dishonor, for the sake of an enemy nation and a tyrant’s greed; he could stain himself a little more for the sake of his own, and shield with his own ruined reputation those who yet had one to protect.

Thus, the written orders for the other officers, directing them to obey him; his only request, which Wellesley grants.

The next morning, the dragons come to a village that was just raided by the French. Laurence has Iskierka burn a house to force the villagers to come out of hiding quickly and tell them where the French went. They find the French without difficulty and attack.

Chapter 14

They are effective at the goal set by Wellesley: the French raiding parties become more desperate for supplies and to catch Laurence’s force, which makes them harsher with civilians, which makes the civilians resist the raiding parties even more and provide even more intelligence. Laurence is devastated to find that his family home has escaped burning on Napoleon’s orders, and Temeraire and the aviators are increasingly anxious and unhappy. (Laurence does at least take a French dragon prisoner, however.)

In the first week of March, 1808, they have been destroying French raiding parties for nearly two months when Wellesley sends out Arkady and three other ferals, along with Tharkay. But Tharkay declines to captain Arkady at this task:

“I have not the luxury of setting aside, for a time, the veneer of civilization; I must be a little more careful. A temporary viciousness may be pardonable in a gentleman, even admirable; but it must brand me forever a savage. Laurence, what are you doing?”

The question was simple enough, and ought to have afforded any of a dozen answers; one after another presented themselves for his consideration. “Killing soldiers,” Laurence said, at last, “most of whom are starving; and making them vicious, so they give us still-better excuse.”

It had the poor advantage of being true; giving it voice, Laurence tasted all its ugliness on his tongue. He sat down and put a hand over his mouth, and found his face was wet.

Laurence struggles with the idea that he would be governed not by orders but only his own conscience, which seems to him “the most miserably solitary existence imaginable; isolated by more than distance or even disdain.” But he accepts that he must, and leaves Wellesley’s orders on the table.

Chapter 15

Laurence apologizes to Temeraire for “hav[ing] submitted to despair” and says that if Wellesley orders him to come back and be hanged, he will not go. Laurence writes to Wellesley to tell him of the change of tactics; the response is Wellesley himself, along with the rest of the Army, moving southward to offer Napoleon battle.

Wellesley lays out a “brief and unsettling” battle plan: they will put their backs to the sea where the Thames meets the Channel; “hold fast, while they spend the best part of their strength, and divert their attacks from our center, until the signal is given”; and then yield the center, withdraw along the flanks, and attack the French rear. Their goal, he tells them, is the capture of Napoleon and the end of the war.

The morning of the battle is thickly foggy and stays that way for the first six hours of fighting. The British position becomes very difficult as the French send in their reserves of ground forces and dragons, but Wellesley has not yet ordered them to yield the center. Then the signal is finally given:

Temeraire pulled away, with a last anxious look over his shoulder; but as he did, he was startled to see the last of the Coldstream Guards throwing themselves flat upon the ground instead of marching away farther, and then a roar of thunder erupted from the fogbank, smoke and orange flame.

He broke over the top of the cloud-bank and saw them in that moment: sixteen ships-of-the-line, and the enormous gold-blazoned Victory at their head, with Nelson’s admiral’s flag flying from the mast. All of them together were unleashing their full broadsides directly into the front rank of the French dragons and men, clouds of black smoke enveloping them even as the fog at last spilled off their sails and prows.

The fleet has returned from Copenhagen, with multiple prizes to boot; between its bombardment and Wellesley sending in the British reserves, Napoleon himself is in danger of being captured.

Lien, seeing this, heads out over the ocean and uses the divine wind to raise a series of waves that she then combines into a single wave of monstrous size. Temeraire, who has followed her, manages to break a hole in the wave, but it is not enough: of the fleet, every ship is sunk except one ship-of-the-line and two frigates. In the silence after the devastation, French dragons manage to rescue Napoleon, who escapes with Lien.

The last of the French dragons broke away and fled. The men yet on the field threw down their guns, and sank most of them to their knees or to all fours, broken with exhaustion. Nineteen eagle standards lay trampled and mired in the blood-churned mud, amid twenty thousand corpses.

The day was won.

Chapter 16

In the aftermath of the battle, they bury their dead and return to (or start making) their dragon pavilions. Napoleon has successfully escaped, and the Prince of Wales is made regent for the King.

Two weeks after the battle, Wellesley—now the Duke of Wellington—offers Laurence a commutation of his delayed death sentence, to transportation and labor, as long as Temeraire goes with him: not only is there a general fear of Celestials after the battle, but Wellington declines to allow Temeraire to engage in “Whiggish rabblerousing” among British dragons. Laurence, reluctantly, tells Temeraire they must go: he will not be a martyr, but he hopes to make up for some of the suffering he has caused by his actions.

They prepare for the trip to Australia. Jane is sending three dragon eggs for the colony. She is also sending Emily to give her professional distance from Jane, who has just been named Admiral of the Air and created a peer (at Wellesley’s insistence). Laurence manages to dissuade Harcourt from sending the baby with Riley, since the Allegiance will be acting as a prison-ship.

When they board the Allegiance, they see Nelson’s coffin being carried away. They are joined before they sail by Tharkay, somewhat mysteriously, and after they sail by Iskierka carrying Granby, not at all mysteriously: she still wants an egg from Temeraire.

The book ends with Laurence reading the Principia Mathematica to Temeraire:

The same book under his hands, the salt wind in his face, Temeraire at his side; nothing changed outwardly, and yet in his essentials he felt as wholly altered as if he had been reborn, since the last time he had set foot upon the deck of a ship: a tide coming in, high and fast, which had swept clean the sand.

“Laurence?” Temeraire said. “Would you prefer another?”

“No, my dear,” Laurence said. “I do very well.”

Commentary

So I referred earlier to the Mordor section of this book, and Chapter 14 is it: a section that looms large in my mind for its doom and gloom and endless slogging misery, yet is actually not that much of the book page-wise. (Okay, technically it starts in Chapter 13—Laurence, you really did not have to destroy the house of your fellow citizens—but just the very end.) I think it’s because there’s so much more lead-up than I’d remembered: Laurence being outcast, and worrying that someone will kill Temeraire for being unmanageable, and then Woolvey and his father and the King … I really do enjoy this book, but this moral low point for Laurence is pretty tough. As it should be! (When we keep revisiting this angst, on the other hand—well, we’ll get there.)

I positively adore the conversation with Tharkay that snaps Laurence out of it. But I was very relieved when, next book, he revealed that he had a reason for going to Australia other than Laurence: when that was in question, I worried that his actions might be revolving too much around Laurence, what with constantly swooping in to provide him with twenty dragons or an escape or moral clarity or company, and not doing anything motivated by his own needs. Yes, I ship them, but no, that wouldn’t be a healthy relationship of any kind; nor would it be a sensitive depiction of the most prominent non-white human character in the series.

Moving to other characters and their complexities, Wellington may be ruthless, but he is fair, and I love that he insists on Jane being recognized as much as he was. [*] Their relationship of straightforward competence and mutual respect is so great. (I never watched much of The West Wing, but I’m familiar with its rapid-fire walk-and-talk conversations, and that’s completely what the two of them remind me of in Chapter 12, just after Wellesley is given command in Scotland.) I note as well that Wellington scoffs, “Rights be damned; we will never hear an end of anyone crying for their rights” (Chapter 16), and had a complicated relationship with rights in our history as a politician: though he supported Catholic emancipation, he opposed Jewish emancipation and the bill that eventually expanded the franchise and reformed the House of Commons.

[*] Gentius’ first Captain, he says in Chapter 13, won the right to be recognized as such in battle. So this means that in Gentius’s lifetime, women aviators have gone from being “Miss” to Admiral of the Air. We’re not sure how old Gentius is, but somewhere around two hundred seems a reasonable guess (in Chapter 9, Temeraire and Laurence discuss that Temeraire may live to about 200).

In the bigger picture, in the spring of 1808 in our world, Murat invaded Spain; I’m not sure whether the timing stayed the same in the series, but overall it probably doesn’t matter much, as we only get the edges and effects of the Peninsular Campaign. The formal Regency is advanced from 1811 in our world; since we’re about to head out of England and stay gone until at least 1812 (Blood of Tyrants), that also probably doesn’t matter much for our purposes.

Finally, the Battle of Shoeburyness. (Is it very American of me to think that’s a great name?) I still remember the first time reading this book and how electrifying it was when the fleet appeared, and then how horrifying it was when Lien destroyed the fleet so quickly. Great stuff.

I asked the resident physicist about the enormous wave Lien generated. Unfortunately fluid mechanics are very much not his area, so while he was instinctively dubious about certain aspects of it, he did refer me to the phenomenon of rogue waves, which are poorly-understood and thus probably provide sufficient plausibility for anyone not a specialist in fluid mechanics. (If you are: please chime in, we would love to hear from you!)

Next week, Australia, which is currently the front-runner for my least favorite book of the series, alas. Let’s get through it together, shall we? See you then.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/the-temeraire-reread-victory-of-eagles/feed/14The Temeraire Reread: Empire of Ivoryhttps://www.tor.com/2016/05/11/the-temeraire-reread-empire-of-ivory/
https://www.tor.com/2016/05/11/the-temeraire-reread-empire-of-ivory/#commentsWed, 11 May 2016 15:00:36 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=213426Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We continue this week with the fourth novel, Empire of Ivory, in which we head to Africa […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We continue this week with the fourth novel, Empire of Ivory, in which we head to Africa and meet a bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I’ve read it, but I’m pretending I haven’t). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

PART I (Chapters 1-5)

Chapter 1

It’s been three days since Temeraire and the feral dragons escaped from Danzig, carrying many Prussian soldiers. They come to Scotland harried by French dragons on patrol; they are saved not by British dragons, despite their desperate signals, but by townspeople using a new shore battery.

Laurence is furious at their abandonment, then stunned when Admiral Lenton tells him why the British did not send the twenty dragons promised to the Prussians: “There were no dragons to send.”

Every British dragon has a “sort of consumption,” brought by the Canadian dragon seen in Chapter 5 of Throne of Jade. Lenton’s own Obversaria, flag-dragon at Dover, is among the dead; Lenton says, “The very young hold up best, and the old ones linger; it is the ones between who have been dying. Dying first, anyway; I suppose they will all go in the end.” Not a single dragon has recovered.

Chapter 2

Laurence is stunned, again, to find that the new admiral at Dover is Jane Roland. She tells him that the Admiralty had no choice, but she is clearly doing an excellent job: she confirms Granby as Iskierka’s captain, cheerfully and successfully negotiates with Arkady, and commissions Tharkay to go back to Turkestan and recruit more feral dragons, as she currently has “less than forty dragons fit to fly.”

Jane also sets Temeraire and Laurence to patrolling with the feral dragons, to Temeraire’s despair—not just at the boring work, but at his inability to help their friends. One of Arkady’s lieutenants, Wringe, is shot in an encounter with a French scouting party, but Temeraire’s new dragon-surgeon, a stammering young man named Dorset, proves coolly capable.

Chapter 3

They head to a nearby covert for Wringe’s recovery. Ferris, a nineteen-year-old lieutenant, offers Laurence the hospitality of his mother’s nearby house. The experience “leav[es] Laurence to the rueful consideration that the cold and open hostility of his father might yet be preferable to a welcome so anxious and smothering.”

Multiple skirmishes with French dragons that night leave them all exhausted and afraid that eventually the French will make it to the quarantine-coverts and realize how few dragons Britain has available. Temeraire suggests pavilions to keep the dragons warmer than lying on the ground, and cooked food such as the Chinese cooks made for him. Jane agrees to a small trial.

Chapter 4

Spicier food improves the sick dragons’ appetites; but spices are expensive, so Jane sends Laurence to London to ask the Admiralty for funds. (Also, they resume their physical relationship.)

Laurence has no success with Grenville, the First Lord of the Admiralty. (In response, Temeraire asks Laurence to build a pavilion at the quarantine-coverts instead of for him, a particularly notable act of generosity from a dragon.) While in London, Lord Allendale (Laurence’s father) and Mr. Wilberforce (one of the leaders of the abolitionist movement) ask Laurence to act as an opposing celebrity to Lord Nelson, who single-handedly defeated their most recent step toward abolition, “an act which should have barred all new ships from the slave trade.” Laurence cannot refuse when Wilberforce decides to socially launch Laurence with a subscription-party to raise funds for sick and wounded dragons.

While waiting for the party, Jane uses a combination of inspiration, threats, and bribes to get Iskierka to listen to Granby at least a little, and also wins the ferals’ increased zeal with brass medals. These promising developments, unfortunately, are offset by the news that the first Longwing has died from the consumption.

At the party, Lord Allendale meets Emily Roland of Temeraire’s crew, who he immediately assumes is Laurence’s bastard daughter (“entirely the wrong impression, which Laurence could no more correct than his father would outright ask”). Laurence also meets the Reverend Josiah Erasmus, who is a former slave, an abolitionist, and an evangelical minister. And Lord Nelson attends and talks with Temeraire.

On the way back, Laurence and Temeraire fly over the quarantine-grounds to see how the pavilion is coming, but find a spying French dragon. They stop it from escaping, only to land them all in the quarantine pits.

Chapter 5

From the French courier, they learn that Lien is “deep in Napoleon’s councils.” Laurence cannot bring himself to care, sunk in despair over Temeraire’s imminent death. But after two weeks, Temeraire has shown no symptoms. Keynes, the dragon-surgeon who came to China with them, speculates that his passing cold in Africa may have actually been the consumption.

Jane sends Temeraire and his formation to Capetown on the Allegiance to run experiments. They are all very ill; Maximus is possibly the worst, because when the Regal Coppers do not eat, they lose muscle and smother under their own body weight (though the Longwings being unable to control their acid when coughing is no small matter, either).

Reverend Erasmus asks Laurence whether he and his family can be Laurence’s guests on the trip to Capetown. Laurence is socially unable to refuse, though he is aware that Captain Riley will take the Reverend’s presence as a deliberate insult given their past disputes over the slave trade. And indeed, the resulting argument is so bad that Laurence asks Harcourt to be their go-between for the journey.

Commentary

In many ways, despite not being the actual mid-point of the series, I think this is the book around which the series pivots. The alternate-ness of the history kicks into a higher gear here, because the developments later in the book are much more obvious changes and have immediate effects, in contrast to the as-yet-unresolved elements of a more engaged and powerful China in Throne of Jadeor a sped-up War of the Fourth Coalition in Black Powder War. In addition, the long-simmering questions of how dragons are treated and how Laurence understands his duty finally come to a crisis. So I really appreciate this book structurally and substantively: the further afield the series goes historically, the more I enjoy it, and while I admit that I sometimes want to tell Laurence to get over himself, already, when it comes to angsting about his treason, it’s such a critical point in his character development that I can’t regret it.

I’m also impressed by the series’ long-range planning. Of course the plague was established in Throne of Jade; but the delayed abolition of the slave trade is a small but critical detail, and that was set up when Nelson survived Trafalgar in His Majesty’s Dragon (the act that he defeated passed in our history in 1806, and was indeed a stepping-stone for full abolition, which passed in February 1807, roughly about the same time we are at in the book).

I also think this opening part strikes a nice balance with its tone. Of course it effectively conveys how serious the dragon consumption is, but it’s not unrelieved doom and gloom thanks to things like Jane being awesome (seriously, she is so awesome) and hideous social awkwardness.

Some minor notes before we move on:

The red vase bought in China goes off as a present to Laurence’s father in chapter one, never to be seen again, alas.

Tharkay “was tolerably familiar” with Scotland’s highest civil court the last time he was in Britain; he does not give Laurence details, but “Tharkay’s father had been a man of property, Laurence knew; Tharkay had none.” (Chapter 1.)

Iskierka’s range for breathing fire is 80 yards, twice that of a Flamme-de-Gloire, and she can breathe fire for five minutes straight. (Chapter 4.)

Dragons, like humans, can have non-procreative sex, which Temeraire had with Mei in China. Temeraire attempts to have procreative sex here with a Yellow Reaper named Felicita, which we’ll find out later was unsuccessful. (Chapter 5.)

Speaking of which, later on (chapter 8) another captain will ask Laurence if he is taking precautions against conception with Jane. “Laurence had never been asked a question he would have less liked to answer; all the more as it had abruptly and appallingly illuminated certain curious habits of Jane’s, which he had never brought himself to inquire into, and her regular consultations of the calendar.” Sponges, possibly? (Also, don’t take nineteenth-century gentlemen as your model: if pregnancy is a possibility, discuss birth control!)

Oh, and Emily has hit puberty. (Chapter 5.)

And now, Africa.

BOOK II (Chapters 6-12)

Chapter 6

Laurence, Temeraire, and the surgeons have been in Capetown for two days; they flew ahead of the Allegiance to start experimenting. So far nothing has jogged Temeraire’s memory, and no-one has found the revolting mushroom from their prior visit. Laurence was not at all sorry to come ahead; besides the urgency of the illness, he and Riley continued to be seriously at odds.

The Erasmus family comes ahead to Capetown with them, where the originally-Dutch colonists are in conflict with the new British government because they have depended heavily on slave labor for years and, “[h]aving thus arranged to be outnumbered … now exerted themselves to maintain the serenity of their establishments by harsh restrictions and an absolutely free hand with punishment.” But when Grey, the acting governor, asks Reverend Erasmus to moderate his family’s activity to avoid inflaming the tensions, he declines, “smiling and immovable,” and Grey is forced to put a guard upon their house.

The Allegiance arrives, and the dragons laboriously make their way off. Maximus is now sufficiently unwell that they know that he will not leave without a cure.

Chapter 7

The experiments continue, and they determine that the climate only slows the disease’s progress slightly. From England, they hear that more dragons have died and that the bill against the slave trade was again defeated in the House of Lords.

Then local children bring in the disgusting mushroom from their first visit. They try it on Maximus and Dulcia, and Keynes is finally forced to give a definitive opinion:

Keynes came in stamping his feet clear of mud, his coat sodden with rain and traces of whitish mucus, and said heavily, “Very well: we must have more of the thing.” They looked at him, made uncomprehending by his tone, and he glared back ferociously before he admitted with reluctance, “Maximus can breathe again,” and sent them all running for the door.

Unfortunately the fungus is so difficult to find that the local children have given up further searches. The aviators find a small specimen, but Chenery (Dulcia’s captain) is wounded by a rhinoceros and they are approached by an enormous red-brown feral dragon, which is driven away by their guns and Dulcia and Temeraire’s defense.

Keynes orders Nitidus dosed with the small specimen, on the grounds that they need a small dragon to go foraging with them and that the dose may not be enough for Lily.

Chapter 8

Two weeks later, Nitidus has recovered but they have found no more mushrooms. A merchant tells them that the mushroom does not grow in the Cape and that they should seek the Xhosa, who have more dealings inland. Unfortunately the Xhosa are not easily found because of the Dutch colonists’ constant expansion of their settlements. The aviators ask Reverend Erasmus to act as their interpreter, and though he knows little enough of the language, his missionary calling causes him to agree on behalf of himself and his wife.

They fly inland and put out trade goods in a clearing. After three days, they are approached by a very young hunter named Demane and his brother Sipho, who is probably six or seven years old. Demane tells them that the mushroom is eradicated by farmers because it makes cows sick and strikes a bargain for the tracking services of his dog, which finds a few small specimens before the end of the chapter.

Back at Capetown, Harcourt tells the other aviators that she is pregnant and that Riley is the father. Laurence cannot decide whether he should tell Riley, though they remain estranged; he asks Warren (Nitidus’s captain) about it, but Warren sees no reason why Riley should know, since there’s no point in marriage and Harcourt’s child would find an occupation in the Corps (and indeed, would be desperately needed if female).

Chapter 9

They have found only enough mushrooms to dose the remaining dragons at Capetown and to send samples back to England on the Fiona, the ship that brought word of their arrival. Harcourt decides they shall look further inland.

Maximus is still recovering, so he and the two Yellow Reapers (Messoria and Immortalis, captained by Sutton and Little) stay behind, while Temeraire, Lily, and the small Nitidus and Dulcia go searching. The dog leads them to a cave whose “floor was covered, covered in mushrooms.”

The aviators send the dragons back carrying as much as they can. Dorset realizes that the mushrooms have been deliberately cultivated, and the red-brown dragon from Chapter 7 arrives and roars furiously at them. They retreat to the cave (except for Demane, Sipho, and the dog, who flee) and shoot at the dragon, but when two more dragons arrive, with human crews, they realize that the red-brown dragon was not feral and that they have trespassed.

Two of the crew escort the Reverend and Mrs. Erasmus out to speak to the newcomers. The red-brown dragon reacts to Mrs. Erasmus’ appearance, upsetting them both.

Erasmus spread his hands, placating, continuing to speak even while he carefully sought to interpose himself before [Mrs. Erasmus]. He was plainly not understood; he shook his head and tried again, in the Khoi language. This was not understood, either; at last he tried another, haltingly, and tapping his own chest said, “Lunda.” The dragon snarled, and with no other warning, the man took up his spear and drove it directly through Erasmus’s body, in one unbroken and terrible motion.

One of the crew is also killed getting Mrs. Erasmus back into the cave. After a fire is set to smoke them out, the aviators decide to run for it, hoping to lose the locals in the forest.

Chapter 10

The aviators are taken prisoner. When they stop for food, the aviators’ attempt to escape is foiled, though at Mrs. Erasmus’ intervention, the dragon does not kill them. She tells Laurence that the dragon, whose name is Kefentse, says that he is her great-grandfather and that he knew her by the name Lethabo before she was kidnapped at the age of nine, though she does not understand what he means.

They continue to be brought steadily north by north-east into the interior, arriving a small farming village where they witness the villagers, human and dragon, telling a large dragon egg of his life when he was a human among them and urging him to come back. Kefentse “gave warning rather than encouragement, and spoke of grief at failing in his duty” when he found his entire village missing or dead. (Mrs. Erasmus thinks the slave-takers killed all the non-sellable members of her village so they could not send Kefentse in pursuit.)

Kefentse continues to bring them inland, and Laurence is astonished to see elephants being used to cultivate land (and as dragon food). Finally, they arrive at Mosi oa Tunya, a vast waterfall whose surrounding canyon is full of “great carved archways, mouths for vaulted halls … with quantities of ivory and gold inlaid directly into the rock … towering more vast than Westminster or St. Paul’s, the only and inadequate measures of comparison which Laurence possessed.” Also, dragons.

Chapter 11

Kefentse deposits the aviators into one of the smaller caverns, which is a very effective prison because the cliff is polished smooth. There, they see dragons drilling a cavern; a bonfire lit by a fire-breathing dragon; and nearly a thousand prisoners being brought back to similar caverns.

Laurence is brought to meet the king, Mokhachane (a female dragon), and his eldest son, Moshueshue (a male human), with Mrs. Erasmus to translate. Kefentse accuses them of being invaders in league with slavers (the Lunda), and their protestations are of no use. Laurence refuses to help them draw an accurate map of Europe, and is flogged severely.

He is returned to the cave and drifts in and out of consciousness for some time, and half-wakes to Temeraire calling him and one of the crew telling him, “Captain, you must wake up, you must, he thinks you’re dead—” Laurence tries to speak, hears a terrible roaring, and passes out again.

Chapter 12

Laurence wakes completely a week after his flogging, and is told that the local dragons drove Temeraire off. He is taken back to the great hall, where Prince Moshueshue asks him about trade goods, the purchase of weapons, and the slave trade.

Moshueshue put his hand on the map-table and gazed thoughtfully down upon it. At last he said, “You are not engaged in this trade, you say, but others of your tribe are. Can you tell me who they are, and where they may be found?”

“Sir, I am sorry to say, that there are too many engaged in the trade for me to know their names, or particulars,” Laurence said awkwardly, and wished bitterly that he might have been able to say with honesty it had been lately banned. Instead he could only add, that he believed it soon would be; which was received with as much satisfaction as he had expected.

“We will ban it ourselves,” the prince said, the more ominously for the lack of any deliberately threatening tone. “But that will not satisfy our ancestors.”

He then asks Laurence if the aviators can be exchanged for other members of Kefentse’s tribe. Mrs. Erasmus manages to convince him otherwise, without going into detail about the brutally short life expectancies of field slaves on Brazilian plantations (“maybe ten” years).

Laurence is brought to an enormous amphitheater, comparable to the Colosseum, and set near a captive Temeraire, who tells him that Lily and Dulcia are hiding out on the plains. Laurence and Temeraire are exhibited as proof of the dangers posed by the slave trade during a series of public speeches. During these, Laurence sees Dulcia with an improvised signal-flag saying “tomorrow.” The next night, Lily uses her acid to make handholds in the cliff, and the aviators escape into the jungle, meeting Temeraire, Lily, and Mrs. Erasmus (brought by Dulcia) on the ground.

They flee to Capetown, which they find being destroyed by dragons and warriors under King Mokhachane’s command. Demane and Sipho had returned to Capetown to claim their payment; but Demane, protecting Sipho, is stabbed by one of the British soldiers, and so the aviators take the siblings with them. Mrs. Erasmus refuses to leave: Kefentse let her go with them so she could find her daughters. “‘My husband is dead,’ she said, with finality, ‘and my daughters will be raised proud children of the Tswana here, not as beggars in England.’” Laurence recognizes that “he had not the right to compel her,” and leaves her to be reunited with Kefentse.

Commentary

I read a few books on the Atlantic slave trade in preparation for the reread, and as I read, I couldn’t figure out why the series used the Tswana as the linchpin for this major divergence, because they were barely mentioned. Then I read further in general histories of Africa and found Prince Moshueshue: in our world, as Wikipedia summarizes, “the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I … gathered together disparate clans of Sotho-Tswana origin” to establish Basutoland in 1822 (now Lesotho). Of course it’s earlier chronologically in the Temeraire series, but through dragon-rebirth, Moshueshue is still working together with his father (the supplementary material states that Mokhachane (h) was killed in 1798; I’m not sure about in our history).

This alternate Tswana Kingdom, and the rest of this section, seems to me to be a deliberate effort to write about Africa as an actual place like any other, which ought not be remarkable but, as Binyavanga Wainaina’s satirical essay “How to Write about Africa” points out, is sadly uncommon. The book depicts multiple societies, different languages, varying landscapes, creative and sensible agricultural and technological practices, and generally people who are as intelligent, as sophisticated, and as much the protagonists of their own stories, as Laurence and Temeraire.

That last part, by the way, is a constant tension in SFF generally and in this kind of world-spanning alternate history particularly. SFF can be seen, as Lois McMaster Bujold has usefully suggested, as a fantasy of political agency, which means SFF readers reasonably expect their protagonists to be the ones Making Things Happen. (No criticism intended; some of my most-loved books fall into this category.) But that can slide very easily into what TVTropes calls “Mighty Whitey,” in which a white outsider is positioned as the protagonist to such an overwhelming extent that the non-white “natives” are reduced to passive, ignorant accessories to the white outsider’s story. In my view, the series has so far successfully navigated this tension by showing Laurence to be a metaphorical pebble, who triggers landslides caused by conditions that existed before he and Temeraire got to the non-European societies. Further, I think this book does slightly better at establishing these existing tensions than Throne of Jade, though it’s hard for me to be certain since I already knew a little more about Africa during this time period.

Of course, though I’ve done some research, I am not an expert, and even if I were, there is no such thing as a Magical Minority Fairy who can wave a wand over a book and declare it to be Not Problematic. What I’ve said is why this works for me; I am entirely open to hearing other opinions, context I’ve overlooked, and so forth.

On a similar note, this is the first time in the series that new religious beliefs are created and ascribed to an existing group of people, which is always a thing to be cautious about when done from outside said group. The practice of dragon-rebirth (explained in more detail in the supplementary material, see the end of this post) seems to me to be treated with the same respect as other religious observances and societal practices in the series so far, and to be consistent with the religious emphasis on ancestral spirits of Bantu-speaking peoples around this time (John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent, chapter 6). Again, however, see the caveats above.

As we’ll see early in the next part of this book, the Atlantic slave trade is probably over in the series. But its consequences remain, and so looking ahead to later books, I should note that Mrs. Erasmus was enslaved in Brazil and freed only shortly before her marriage, when the ship she was on was taken as a British prize. The conditions in Brazil were just as harsh as she says; the high mortality rates for slaves in Brazil and the Caribbean is one of the reasons vastly more slaves were delivered there than to North America.

(I’ve found slightly different numbers different places; Iliffe’s Africans says, in chapter 7, that “49 percent of exported slaves went to the Caribbean, 41 percent to Brazil, and fewer than 4 percent to North America,” while the numbers given in Appendix 3 of Hugh Thomas’ The Slave Trade are 4 million (roughly 35%) to Brazil and 500,000 (a bit over 4%) to British North America and the United States. (The way Thomas allocates the rest makes it hard to sum up the Caribbean numbers, but certainly at least as much as Brazil.) Both sources estimate that somewhere over 11 million people were taken from Africa by the Atlantic slave trade. These numbers are for delivery only; the North American plantations generally had positive population growth, and so by 1860, the slave population in the United States was approximately 4 million.)

Finally, the establishment of the Tswana Kingdom has huge implications for Africa beyond the slave trade. The historical Moshoeshoe established his kingdom partly in reaction to the Zulus, whose rise to power will now look very different here, if it occurs at all (we know the Tswana Kingdom survives until at least 1838, when the supplementary material is dated); and though it’s several decades off, I have to believe the Scramble for Africa is going to be severely affected.

Okay, that was a whole lot. Three minor notes: Laurence asks Reverend Erasmus whether dragons are subject to original sin; the Reverend thinks not, as only Adam and Eve are mentioned as eating the fruit. It was nice that Temeraire’s doubts about Lily and Dulcia’s ability to plan their escape after he was captured were not founded. And having seen Captain America: Civil War, a younger Chadwick Boseman has taken over my mental image of Moshueshue and refuses to leave. (Fun fact: T’Chaka and T’Challa speak Xhosa in the movie.)

PART III (Chapters 13-17)

Chapter 13

On board the Allegiance, Riley and Laurence mend their quarrel, and Riley begs Laurence for help understanding why a visibly-pregnant Harcourt refuses to marry him. Laurence convinces Riley that Harcourt will not leave the Corps, and explains to Harcourt that Riley needs to marry because his family’s property is entailed. She agrees to marriage, though the ceremony is postponed until they can resupply enough to provide a wedding-feast.

Resupply is long coming, as they find European port after European port destroyed by the Tswana ahead of them. At Cape Coast, a British port, they find two slave traders concealing two hundred slaves in the woods. Laurence, Temeraire, and the crew free the captives, and the slavers are taken on board.

(Riley and Harcourt’s wedding eventually takes place, though it is “a rather muddled occasion.”)

On August 10, 1807, the Allegiance at last comes into the Channel, where it finds a French convoy being captured by Iskierka and the feral dragons, who are well-practiced at taking and managing prizes, even in the absence of prize-crews. Sadly, their efforts are needed, because the British Navy has not been able to hold the blockade in the face of what seems “another hundred dragons more than [the French] ought” to have.

Chapter 14

The newspapers are in fits of racist hysteria over the news from Africa, and the aviators of Lily’s formation are summoned before the Admiralty to give their reports. On the way, they visit the pavilion Temeraire and Laurence had built at the quarantine-grounds, and are subdued to see the burial-mounds of dragons there. In happier news, they meet Captain James and Volly on courier duty again; Temeraire sends a letter to his family in China, and Laurence gets a letter from his mother, who writes that she hopes that the news from Africa will spur passage of the ban on the slave trade and encloses a string of garnets for Emily Roland, on the mistaken belief (see Chapter 4) that Emily is Laurence’s daughter.

Meanwhile, Laurence had field-promoted Emily and Dyer to ensign, and asks Jane to have Demane and Sipho named as replacement runners, as they have nowhere else to go.

Chapter 15

While Laurence and Jane are dressing to go to the Admiralty, Laurence proposes marriage without realizing he intended to. She refuses, kindly, but Laurence is “conscious of a lowering unhappiness.”

At the Admiralty, their Lordships would love to find some way to blame the aviators for the Tswana’s actions, but Jane successfully deflects them from that and from plans to retake the ports:

Jane [was] forced to recall to their Lordships, with poorly concealed exasperation, the parade of failures which had been occasioned by all the attempts to establish colonies in the face of organized aerial hostilities: by Spain, in the New World; the total destruction of Roanoke; the disasters in Mysore.

But their Lordships—and even Lord Nelson, who has talked with Temeraire (Chapter 4)—reveal that they have deliberately sent an infected French courier dragon back to France, whose dragons would then spread the plague throughout the world.

Strategy, strategy, would call it a victory to see the Chinese aerial legions decimated: without them, the Chinese infantry and cavalry could hardly stand against British artillery. The distant corners of India brought under control, Japan humbled; perhaps a sick beast might be delivered to the Inca, and the fabled cities of gold flung open at last.

The aviators are furious and sick. Temeraire, when he hears, asks Laurence what they shall do. Laurence does not understand at first, and speaks of defending the Channel against the expected retaliatory French invasion. Temeraire tells him that they must take the cure to France, and that he will take it alone if he must, treason or not. Laurence refuses: they shall go together.

Chapter 16

Laurence writes to Jane, apologizing. He and Temeraire fly to Loch Laggan, where they steal a tub of mushrooms, knocking out a Marine guard in the process. Temeraire confesses to Celeritas (their former training-master) as they leave, but they lose the dragons that pursue them and make it to France under a flag of parley, where they are made prisoner.

Chapter 17

After a week of interrogation, the efficacy of the cure becomes apparent, and “Laurence could only hope that with the cure established in England and France, the quarrel of the two powers must deliver it to their respective allies also,” with ordinary corruption spreading it anywhere else necessary. He also provides the location of the mushroom valley in Africa, as the French do not care to wait for their own harvest.

Laurence meets Napoleon, who is engaged in a vast program of public works to make Paris dragon-friendly. Napoleon attempts to convince Laurence to stay, if not to serve France then to live there in quiet retirement. Laurence just manages to refuse on his own behalf. Napoleon recognizes his resolve and tells him that France will send them back across the Channel with an honor-guard.

As they wait to leave, Laurence tries to convince Temeraire to stay:

“You serve me not at all, nor your own cause; it will only be thought blind loyalty.”

Temeraire said, after a moment, “If I do, will you tell them that I carried you away, against your will, and made you do it?”

“Never, good God,” Laurence said, straightening, and wounded even to be asked; too late he realized he had been led up to the mark.

“Napoleon said that if I stayed, you might tell them so if you liked,” Temeraire said, “and then they might spare you. But I said you would never say such a thing at all, so it was no use; and so you may stop trying to persuade me. I will never stay here, while they try to hang you.”

Laurence bowed his head, and felt the justice of it; he did not think Temeraire ought to stay, but only wished that he would, and be happy. “You will promise me not to stay forever in the breeding grounds,” he said, low. “Not past the New Year, unless they let me visit you in the flesh.” He was very certain they would execute him by Michaelmas.

Supplementary Material

The book contains extracts from The Tswana Kingdom: A Brief History, published in three volumes by Sipho Tsuluka Dlamini in 1838. It summarizes the rise of elephant-farming, gold mining, and the ivory trade, as well as the development of the ceremonial capital at Mosi oa Tunya. It explains the practice of dragon-rebirth:

That the feral dragon in the wilderness is no more a reborn human than is a cow is perfectly understood by [the Tswana], and viewed as no contradiction to their practice. Careful coaxing and ritual are necessary, besides a suitable housing, to induce an ancestral spirit to take up residence again in material form; the article of faith is to believe, once this has been achieved, that the dragon is certainly the human reborn, a belief much harder to dislodge, by its being firmly held not only by the men but the dragons, and of so much practical importance within the tribe.

That importance has many facets: labor, military power, repositories of tribal history and legend, and networks among tribes created by the dispersal of eggs.

Finally, the extracts cover the rise to power of Mokhachane I (d) and Moshueshue I (h), culminating in Mokhachane claiming the title of King in 1804, the result in significant part of smaller kingdoms seeking a united answer against the depredations of slave-traders. “The practical as well as ceremonial reign of Mokhachane I was confirmed by the conquest of Capetown and the Slave Coast raids of 1807, and the Tswana themselves date the founding of their kingdom from this year…”

Commentary

That last chapter is one heck of a way to end a book. Of course we were all pretty sure, as readers of a series that then had no announced end date, that Laurence wasn’t going to be executed … but there was always that tiny chance. Instead, almost every action he takes from now on will be colored by his decision, bringing me back to what I said at the start about how pivotal this book is for the series. (Plus the change it forces on Temeraire in the next book is so great that it’s hard for me to leave it until next post.)

By the way, I’d vaguely thought that Michaelmas was near Christmas; it’s actually September 29. Since they arrived at the Channel on August 10, Laurence is expecting a rapid execution indeed.

When it comes to Jane, Laurence is a pretty emotionally reserved narrator, so it’s hard for me to tell how much his proposal is true longing and how much it’s the last gasps of his upbringing, coming as it does after successfully convincing Riley and Harcourt to marry, together with his desire, expressed throughout the series (such as in Chapter 17 of this book), for a quiet domestic life. Not, of course, that Jane would provide that, but down in his backbrain he may well still associate marriage with domesticity.

I have no pre-existing opinions about Napoleon’s personality, which I gather to be a predictably divisive topic; but I think the way the series handles him works from a dramatic standpoint. So, in Chapter 17, Laurence maintains his awareness of Napoleon’s “insatiable hunger for glory and power,” but regretfully acknowledges that his changes to Paris are “[a]n extraordinary work,” and generally feels the influence of Napoleon’s personal magnetism and acknowledges that he is right about some things. This gives the conversation another layer of tension and temptation, and like the bit in Black Powder War where Laurence is surprised that Napoleon is “not particularly stunted,” as shown by newspapers (Chapter 13), contributes to a more realistic feeling for the series overall.

In the bigger picture, we’ve had small mentions throughout the series that the Incan Empire still exists, and this part specifically says that it’s because the Spanish were fought off with dragons; we’ll get more details on that in Crucible of Gold. Similarly, the destruction of Roanoke is attributed definitively to opposition from the existing inhabitants, which suggests that the colonization of North America might have gone somewhat differently, though we’ll get only tiny hints as to that, alas.

I talked so much about the Tsawana in the last part that there’s not much else to say here. But I do remember how exciting it was, the first time reading, to see Sipho’s treatise in the supplementary material: extending out that big-picture hope after the bleak ending. I’ll just note the slavers in Cape Coast include George Case of Liverpool, who was one of the owners of the infamous Zong slave ship, and who also sues Laurence for letting the slaves go, seeking ten thousand pounds in damages (this was in chapter 15, but it didn’t fit in the summary).

I think that’s about all for this week. Next week, as the back of this book says: “Napoleon Invades England!!!” See you then.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/05/11/the-temeraire-reread-empire-of-ivory/feed/12The Temeraire Reread: Black Powder Warhttps://www.tor.com/2016/05/04/the-temeraire-reread-black-powder-war/
https://www.tor.com/2016/05/04/the-temeraire-reread-black-powder-war/#commentsWed, 04 May 2016 15:00:04 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=212778Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th. We continue this week with the third novel, Black Powder War, in which we return to Europe—and the […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th. We continue this week with the third novel, Black Powder War, in which we return to Europe—and the Napoleonic Wars—via Istanbul. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I’ve now read it, but I’m pretending I haven’t). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

PROLOGUE AND PART I (Chapters 1-5)

Prologue

Laurence happens to see Prince Yongxing buried quietly at night in an unmarked grave, with only Lien and De Guignes, the French ambassador, as mourners.

Chapter 1

The Allegiance is becalmed in Macao when a fire in the galley severely damages it, requiring months of repair. The aviators are found by Tharkay, a widely-traveled man whose father was a British gentleman and whose mother was “Thibetan or Nepalese, or something like”; he carries an order from Admiral Lenton directing them to proceed to Istanbul and pick up three dragon eggs that the Corps has purchased from Selim III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Though they are puzzled why they are being sent to get the eggs, they realize time is of the essence, and eventually resolve to go overland with Tharkay as a guide, despite multiple people questioning his trustworthiness.

Chapter 2

They speed their way north, picking up the (dying) Silk Road at Xian, spending the night at what are likely the Maijishan Grottoes, and generally “cover[ing] better than a thousand miles in two weeks of traveling.” At the Jiayu Gate (Jiayuguan), their two hired Chinese cooks fling pebbles at the fortress’s wall; the one thrown by Gong Su rolls away, which he interprets to mean that he will never come back to China, and so he asks to stay. Laurence convinces him to come along, and promises Temeraire that they may return after the war.

Chapter 3

They buy camels at Dunhuang, to carry Temeraire’s water and serve as his food supply, and move in convoy along the south edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The other Chinese cook, Jing Chao, goes missing one day, and no trace of him can be found.

A sandstorm forces them to shelter for two days, during which time Laurence hears Tharkay’s cynical views about politics: he advises Temeraire that the quest for dragon rights may be “slow going,” because “men with powers and privileges rarely like to share them.” The storm destroys half of their remaining camels and the water they carried. Tharkay says they can still reach the next river; Laurence is reluctant to trust him, though “indeed he hardly knew what he feared,” but he eventually decides to not waste time turning back.

A few days later, they hear horses, discover that Tharkay is not there, and see horsemen spot them and then ride away. They follow and come upon Tharkay at an oasis, who says he scouted ahead; Laurence is at a loss to interpret his behavior. The horsemen leave but return in the night to try and steal the camels. The aviators fight them off—with Tharkay’s help—though one is killed.

They arrive at the market city of Yutien (now Hotan), after which oases are closer together. Laurence demands that Tharkay promise not to leave again without permission. Tharkay offers instead that they should part ways, and Laurence is forced to refuse, knowing they cannot spare the time to find another guide.

Chapter 4

High in the Pamir Mountains, a pack of feral dragons attempts to take their pigs. Temeraire warns them off with a “small growling roar,” which causes an avalanche. One aviator and the eagle flown by Tharkay are killed; one of the ferals suffers a broken wing.

The ferals take them, not entirely willingly, to their cave, which is warmed by a hot spring. Temeraire, who has been learning the dragon language Durzagh from Tharkay, learns that Lien previously crossed the pass with De Guignes, the French ambassador.

Chapter 5

The aviators depart as soon as possible, and “the youngest and most adventurous” of the ferals come with them.

When they finally arrive in Istanbul, everyone is tired and hungry, and the ferals dive on a herd of cattle being guarded by Turkish dragons. In the ensuing standoff, a Turkish captain tells Laurence that the British ambassador Arbuthnot was recently killed in a hunting accident. The ferals take advantage of everyone else’s distraction to grab the dead cows and flee.

The furious Turkish captain brings Hasan Mustafa Pasha (“the last a title rather than surname, Laurence vaguely recalled, and a senior rank among the vezirs”), who warmly greets Laurence and offers him hospitality, but tell him, “You must know we cannot give you the eggs.”

Commentary

This is not one of my favorite books in the series, I admit. Partly this is because the land campaign in Part III just refuses to stay in my head, but it also feels like a much more transitional and things-stuck-together book than it may actually be. After all, there is a clear goal from Chapter 1: get the eggs and bring them back to England. Everything else follows from that, and the three parts of the novel—overland travel, intrigues in Istanbul, grinding military campaigns in Central Europe—probably aren’t any more disparate than the parts of the last book. Yet I still have that instinctive reaction, fairly or not.

I do, however, love Tharkay a whole lot, and I’m very glad he’s here. Laurence has had a bunch of prejudices regarding women dislodged by his service as an aviator, but he hasn’t really had to confront how the British treat individual non-white people among them, as opposed entire powerful countries. Much of Laurence’s distrust clearly arises from his discomfort with Tharkay’s position outside the social roles he’s used to, as shown by this quote from Chapter 1:

It was difficult to know how to address him: neither a superior servant, nor a gentleman, nor a native, all his refinements of speech curiously placed against the scruff and tumble of his clothing and his disreputable surroundings; though perhaps he could have gotten no better accommodations, curious as his appearance was, and with the hostile eagle as his companion. He made no concessions, either, to his odd, in-between station; a certain degree of presumption almost in his manner, less formal than Laurence would himself have used to so new an acquaintance, almost in active defiance against being held at a servant’s distance.

Of course, Tharkay unquestionably courts that distrust, too, which we’ll get to in the next part.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the journey itself. I think, from the lack of a mention, that the the Jiayu Gate isn’t connected to a Great Wall in the novel’s history, presumably because dragons. And I have no idea what was going on with the cooks—either the one who disappeared, or Gong Su’s request to turn back, since much later we find out he’s been in Prince Mianning’s service all along. Oh, and some of the dragons at Yutien are practicing Muslims.

Finally, Temeraire recounts a long story told by Arkady, the leader of the ferals; is there any chance it’s a riff on an existing story that I don’t recognize?

“It is very exciting,” Temeraire said, turning to him eagerly, “it is all about a band of dragons, who find a great heap of treasure hidden in a cave, that belonged to an old dragon who died, and they are quarreling over how to divide it, and there are a great many duels between the two strongest dragons, because they are equally strong, and really they want to mate and not fight, but neither of them knows that the other also wants to mate, and so they each think they have to win the treasure, and then they can give it to the other, and then the other one will agree to mate to get the treasure. And one of the other dragons is very small but clever, and he is playing tricks on the others and getting lots of the treasure away for himself bit by bit; and also there is a mated pair who have argued over their own share, because the female was too busy brooding the egg to help him fight the others and get a bigger share, and then he did not want to share equally with her, and then she got angry and took away the egg and hid with it, and now he is sorry but he cannot find her, and there is another male who wants to mate with her, and he has found her and is offering her some of his own share of the treasure—”

And now, on to Istanbul.

PART II (Chapters 6-10)

Chapter 6

Mustafa explains that the payment for the dragon eggs “had not yet been delivered when the ambassador had met with his accident,” and casts suspicion on the ambassador’s vanished secretary James Yarmouth. The aviators don’t believe him, but find themselves essentially trapped in the palace quarters they are given.

As they wait, Temeraire makes friends with the fire-breathing Kazilik dragons who are guarding them, and discovers it is their egg the British bought—and it is going to hatch soon. The aviators are thrilled, though the news increases the urgency of obtaining the eggs, since they need to teach the dragon English in the shell. They are also stunned at the reported price of half a million pounds, which Laurence calls enough to “build half-a-dozen first-rates … and a pair of dragon transports besides.” The news poses an unexpected difficulty, however, when Temeraire objects to the idea that the dragon eggs are being sold: “it is no wonder that people treat us as though we are slaves.”

Mustafa eventually comes to visit them, fending Laurence off with an investigatory visit to the ambassador’s residence—fruitless, but it does give their guards a chance to show the aviators the massive fortifications being added to the harbor. Laurence decides to demand an audience with the Sultan directly, thinking that he cannot mean to entirely destroy relations with the British “with Bonaparte nearer his doorstep than ever, since Austerlitz.”

Chapter 7

Laurence discovers, thanks to the visit of a furious dragon captain, that Temeraire has been telling the local dragons “how they ought to be paid, and not need to go to war unless they wish it.” Laurence tells him to stop, because they are at the mercy of their hosts. Temeraire takes this request to its logical conclusion and realizes that Laurence thinks similar talk at home would hurt the war effort. Laurence reluctantly agrees, though he tries to comfort Temeraire with the idea of smaller progress in the meantime.

Two young riflemen, Dunne and Hackley, are caught attempting to enter the seraglio (women’s apartments), for which the penalty is death. Laurence manages to talk Mustafa into sparing their lives and leaving their punishment to him.

Tharkay, who has been missing since the middle of the prior chapter, arrives at this unhappy point with the news that he has found Mr. Maden, who commissioned him to carry Admiral Lenton’s orders to China.

Chapter 8

Laurence and Tharkey sneak out and meet Maden, a Jewish banker whose family came to Istanbul after being expelled from Spain by the Inquisition. Maden had assembled the gold for the payment; he tells them that he delivered the gold to the ambassador’s residence. Laurence asks if Mustafa could have stolen the money, which Maden rejects: “He and his family are in passionate support of the Sultan’s reforms, and the cleansing of the Janissary Corps.” Maden does note, however, that popular opinion since Austerlitz is that Napoleon is undefeatable.

On the way back to the palace, Laurence and Tharkey are seen by guards, and Tharkay bravely and successfully leads them through half-submerged tunnels to escape. Laurence confronts Tharkay about his inconsistent behavior; Tharkay admits that “I would rather provoke a little open suspicion, freely expressed, than meekly endure endless slights and whispers not quite hidden behind my back,” based on past bitter experience. Laurence, moved by the waste of Tharkay’s isolation, promises him full loyalty, which Tharkay accepts and returns.

Sara Maden, Mr. Maden’s daughter, acts as a business agent for one of the women in the harem. She comes to the aviators’ quarters to show them a piece of the missing British gold, which she found in the Sultan’s treasury. (Also, she and Tharkey once had some kind of romantic relationship, but she is now marrying someone else.) Laurence uses this evidence to get an audience with the Sultan—at which they discover Lien.

Chapter 9

The Sultan makes it clear that he will not provide the eggs. Lien visits and tells Temeraire,

“I came,” she said, “to be certain that you understood. You are very young and stupid, and you have been badly educated; I would pity you, if I had any pity left.

“You have overthrown the whole of my life, torn me from family and friends and home; you have ruined all my lord’s hopes for China, and I must live knowing that all for which he fought and labored was for naught. His spirit will live unquiet, and his grave go untended.

“No, I will not kill you, or your captain, who binds you to his country.” She shook out her ruff and leaning forward said softly, “I will see you bereft of all that you have, of home and happiness and beautiful things. I will see your nation cast down and your allies drawn away. I will see you as alone and friendless and wretched as am I; and then you may live as long as you like, in some dark and lonely corner of the earth, and I will call myself content.”

After some effort to dispel the dismay caused by Lien’s words, the aviators plan to steal the eggs and leave that night.

The Kaziliks tell Temeraire that the egg is being kept inside the seraglio, near the baths. Temeraire is disinclined to let any of his crew go—this includes Tharkay, to Tharkay’s surprise—because of the danger, but one of the punished riflemen saw the baths and leads them there. They manage to take the eggs, though Tharkay is wounded; young Digby, a member of Temeraire’s flight crew from the beginning, is killed; and one of the three eggs is smashed.

Chapter 10

They make it to Austria after a “long and desperate flight.” They are given temporary shelter in a fort whose bitter commander gives Laurence the details of Napoleon’s massive victory at Austerlitz (which happened last book) and tells Laurence that the Prussians are going to war against France. They arrive in Dresden to find that the Prussians have been waiting for twenty British dragons for the last two months.

Commentary

In our history, Selim III did join forces with Napoleon shortly after Austerlitz, and also attempted to reform the Janissary Corps; he was deposed for his efforts in 1807, or after this book. I don’t know if the British gold would affect that in this alternate history. If anyone’s knowledgeable about the history of the Ottoman Empire and cares to comment generally on the Istanbul bits, that would be great.

I wish we got to see more of Sara Maden, who is clearly a woman to be reckoned with, and to learn more about her history with Tharkay. I know that these would be entirely different books if they were in Patrick O’Brian-style omniscient (which is also a very technically demanding POV), but there are definitely times when the limited POV frustrates me. It was good to hear Tharkay explain himself, though, and one should not underestimate the fortitude it takes to actively flout near-universal disdain from, as he says, “not only society but all those on whom you might justly have a claim of brotherhood” (his father was a senior British officer). (Also, I admit it, I totally ship him and Laurence. Though more as we go on. (I haven’t forgotten about Jane! I contain multitudes.))

As for setting up the future: we get a few more hints about the dragon plague, between the massive sum paid for the Kazilik egg and the absence of the British dragons to support the Prussians, though I doubt those are enough to put it together before Empire of Ivory—did anyone guess? Lien gets that great speech that I couldn’t help but quote (there was a little more that I left out, but not much). And in the slow-burn question of improving England’s treatment of dragons, Laurence raises the added wrinkle of delaying until the war is over.

Other than that, I don’t have much to say about this section. The Mystery of the Eggs is fairly self-contained, after all—or at least if the Ottoman Empire bits have wider ramifications, they aren’t immediately apparent based on reading a couple books about the Napoleonic Wars and some Internet articles. Let’s move on to the land war in Asia Europe.

PART III (Chapters 11-17)

Chapter 11

Prince Hohenlohe tells Laurence he can have a safe-passage through Prussia when the twenty promised British dragons show up. The aviators agree they will fight rather than sit, though it raises the possibility that the Kazilik egg will hatch on the battlefield (and makes them anxious that the Prussians will realize what it is and confiscate it). Tharkay takes his leave from Laurence, as he can be of little use while they are confined in camp.

Temeraire is assigned to sweep with the formation of Eroica, a heavy-weight whose captain is Dyhern. Temeraire is not impressed by the Prussian dragons, whose formations are precise but poorly-designed—and the Prussian dragons (and officers) are not impressed with his ideas about reading, cooked food, or improvements to the formations. However, the Prussians are extremely optimistic about the forthcoming battle, since the French will be badly outnumbered and have supply lines stretched to the limit.

Chapter 12

Word comes that Lien has been made a French officer, which worries only Temeraire and Laurence. At the Battle of Saalfeld, Temeraire’s criticisms of the Prussian formations prove sadly accurate: the Prussian dragons are easily harassed out of place by smaller French dragons, leaving them unable to break up a flanking attempt by French infantry at a critical moment. The Prussians are routed and Prince Louis Ferdinand is killed.

Chapter 13

Temeraire designs easy-to-implement changes to the Prussian formations. Captain Dyhern accepts them with good grace and rallies the dispirited aviators into practicing them.

It is a foggy morning outside of Jena, “early on the thirteenth of October; almost a month now since their arrival in Prussia.” Laurence goes for a look around on higher ground with a young Prussian officer added to his crew, Badenhaur. At the summit, they see Lien flying toward them; they hide and she lands. Her passenger, to their startlement, is Napoleon Bonaparte himself, surveying the trap he is laying for the Prussian forces. Laurence stops Badenhaur from shooting Napoleon from concealment; when Lien and Napoleon leave, they scramble to warn the Prussians. They see French middle-weight dragons carrying infantry Chinese-style, on carrying harnesses, and carrying their own food in their claws, thereby solving their supply problem and vastly increasing the number of available dragons; and they see French heavy-weights bringing artillery to the heights.

Chapter 14

The initial dragon skirmishes allow the Prussians to deploy their regiments. As Temeraire and Laurence go aloft again after a brief rest, they see that

The great contest now was unfolding fully beneath them: like nothing Laurence had ever seen. Across full five miles of villages and fields and woods the battalions were forming, ironwork and steel blazing in the sun amid a sea of color, uniforms of green and red and blue in their thousands, in their tens of thousands, all the massed regiments filing into their battle-lines like a monstrous ballet, to the accompaniment of the shrill animal cries of horses, the jar and clatter of the wheels of the supply-carts, the thundercloud-rumble of the field guns.

By the early afternoon the tide seems to be shifting in the Prussians’ favor, with the King and Queen rallying the troops in person and the Prussians taking back a small village near the center of the battle. But then the French heavy-weights finally engage: they use a single massive formation to scatter the wings of the Prussian formations, exposing the Prussian heavy-weights to swarms of boarding parties carried by French middle-weights. The strategy is hugely successful, with many dragons captured and many crew members killed (Temeraire must catch Granby out of mid-air). Lien then signals all the French dragons to dive at the ground and skim along it, “tearing through the stunned and unprepared ranks of the Prussian infantry.” The infantry breaks, the retreat is called, “and as the French dragons dropped to the earth to rest, their blood-spattered sides heaving, the French cavalry and infantry poured all down off the hill and streamed past them, roaring in human voices, to complete the ruin and defeat.”

Chapter 15

As the army regroups, Prince Hohenlohe and Laurence realize that Temeraire is the only heavy-weight left, “at one stroke thus become critical to their defenses, and impossible to restrain”; but Laurence cannot bring himself to leave the Prussians.

As news of more Prussian defeats come in, Hohenlohe asks Laurence to take the King and Queen to Berlin, where the royal children are, before the French arrive and capture it. There, Laurence learns that the British Navy is in the Baltic.

Laurence refuses to leave the Prussians, though Granby suggests it’s their duty to return home and Laurence himself is unsure of the best course. They continue to head east, under miserable and miserably slow conditions, with good news “the only thing in shorter supply than food.” The King and Queen go ahead to meet with Tsar Alexander, who has pledged to continue the war.

They were three days from Warsaw, on the fourth of November. All through that day’s march they heard the guns to the east, and during the night a red glow of fire shone in the distance. The guns were fainter the next day and silent by the afternoon. The wind had not changed. The army did not break from its mid-day camp; the men scarcely stirred, as if they all collectively held their breath, waiting.

The couriers, sent off that morning, came back hurrying a few hours later, but though the captains went directly to the general’s quarters, before they even came out again the news was somehow already spreading: the French had beaten them to Warsaw. The Russians had been defeated.

Chapter 16

The French army got to Warsaw so quickly by having dragons carry all its supplies; “the Tsar’s armies had been strung out along the road to Warsaw, wholly unsuspecting, and in three days and three battles [Napoleon] had smashed them in their separate parts.” Now the French are pursuing the remnants of the Prussian army, and Laurence, Temeraire, and the crew are heading north for the Baltic, to find the British Navy.

They stop at a ruined castle for a scant meal, and are stumbled upon by a peasant girl. She runs and summons an air patrol—just as the Kazilik egg decides to hatch (in a sign of things to come, Temeraire is unable to convince it to wait). The dragon names herself Iskierka, but accepts Granby as her captain, and must be forcibly restrained from trying to attack the dragons who chase them. They make it to Danzig on the Baltic by the skin of their teeth.

Chapter 17

Unfortunately Danzig is besieged and they cannot escape, even though the British fleet is only five miles distant. Despite the Tsar making peace and negotiating a treaty with Napoleon, General Kalkreuth refuses to surrender, banking on the winter to slow the siege. The offer of a surrender and parole is, however, not extended to Laurence and the rest of the British: Marshal Lefèbvre tells him, “we’ve orders about you in particular.”

Kalkreuth’s optimism about the progress of the siege is thwarted when Lien arrives, uses the divine wind to loosen the packed earth, and directs the French dragons to help dig the trenches. The British are planning a desperate flight out of the city at the new moon, with an attack from the Prussians as distraction, when twenty dragons appear most unexpectedly. It’s the ferals, led by Arkady: Tharkay convinced them to join the British service in return for cows. Though the ferals are not enough to defeat the French, Temeraire realizes they can evacuate the Prussians to the British fleet.

(He is not as pleased with this idea as Laurence expected, because it signals Napoleon’s victory and a long war until he can work for better treatment of dragons. Laurence tells him he has changed his mind, because “Napoleon has made manifest for all the world to see the marked advantages to a modern army of closer cooperation between men and dragons … which makes it not merely our desire but our duty to promote such change in England.”)

Tharkay drugs a cow and leads it to the Fleur-de-Nuit on watch, allowing them to use the cover of night to fly the Prussians out on Chinese-style carrying harnesses. They are getting the last battalions aboard Temeraire when the French dragons attack just before dawn; Iskierka finally gets to breathe fire at an enemy as they escape. Lien pursues them even to within reach of the British cannon, and would have kept going, but one of the French courier dragons flings himself in front of a shot meant for her, bringing her to her senses. Temeraire and the ferals head for Scotland, Laurence longing for home.

Supplementary Material

The book includes “Extracts from a letter published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, April 1806,” in which an clergyman rejects the idea that dragons “possess, in full measure equal to man, the faculty of reason and intellect.”

Commentary

It’s a truism that middle books are hard. As book 3 of 9, this isn’t exactly middle, but so many of the books are not about the Napoleonic Wars proper that it’s kind of in a middle position for that part of the story. And so I can’t criticize this book for being depressing as all hell, because it’s appropriate both structurally and historically. I just don’t enjoy it very much.

Here’s the upshot of adding dragons, particularly Lien, to the War of the Fourth Coalition: the Battle of Jena happens a day early, and the rest is massively sped up: in our history, Russian sues for peace in the summer of 1807, and Danzing is besieged from March through May 1807. This book ends, most likely, in January 1807. [*] I presume this will make chronological room for the invasion of Britain in Victory of Eagles, but we aren’t there yet.

[*] They were outside Warsaw on November 4, and make it to Danzing on a night when “the moon [was] barely short of full,” so late November (I think it was no later than that, because they’ve only been stealing food for the past week). Lien arrives after they’ve been in Danzig for two weeks and spends at least a week overseeing the siege works. They escape at the next new moon, which would be January 9, 1807.

I was pleased to be introduced to Queen Louise, who seems to have been a remarkable figure (and was indeed at Jena). In our history she died in 1810; I couldn’t find any mention of her fate in the series to date, though the next book says that Napoleon took two of her sons to Paris as hostages, which I don’t think is historical and at any rate cannot have helped her spirits.

Speaking of Napoleon, and alternate history: I realize that there’s no rest of the series if, on that hilltop before the Battle of Jena, Laurence and the young Prussian officer shoot Napoleon from their hiding place inside those blackberry bushes. Nevertheless, it’s a very “the past is a foreign country” moment for me, that Laurence would view it as dishonorable to try.

Though there’s a lot of grim in this part, there are bits of humor, too, particularly once Iskierka is hatched. I particularly like their attempt to steal some cows that night:

An hour after sunset they crept up the slope from downwind and made their stealthy attack; or so it might have been, save in a frenzy of excitement Iskierka clawed through the carabiner straps holding her on, and flung herself over the fence and onto the back of one of the sleeping, unsuspecting cows. It bellowed in terror and bolted away with all the rest of the herd, with the dragonet clinging aboard and shooting off flames in every direction but the right one, so the affair took on the character more of a circus than a robbery. The house lit up, and the farmhands dashed out with torches and old muskets, expecting perhaps foxes or wolves; they halted at the fence staring, as well they might; the cow had taken to frantic bucking, but Iskierka had her claws deeply embedded in the roll of fat around its neck, and was squealing half in excitement, half in frustration, ineffectually biting at it with her still-small jaws.

“Only now look what she has done,” Temeraire said self-righteously, and jumped aloft to snatch the dragonet and her cow in one claw, a second cow in the other. “I am sorry we have woken you up, we are taking your cows, but it is not stealing, because we are at war,” he said, hovering, to the white and frozen little group of men now staring up at his vast and terrible form, whose incomprehension came even more from terror than from language.

Oh, Iskierka. Oh, Temeraire.

Some minor notes to round out this post:

In Chapter 11, the aviators are speculating why the promised dragons haven’t come to Prussia, and one says, “Oh! Maybe we are taking back the American colonies?” Pretty sure this is the first we’ve heard of the United States.

In Chapter 13, Laurence sees that Lien is wearing “one enormous diamond nearly the size of a chicken’s egg.” I wonder if this is the Regent Diamond, which in our history was on Napoleon’s sword?

A tiny taste of a tactic that will also be used in Blood of Tyrants, freeing maltreated dragons: in Chapter 16, the French free Polish dragons “from the Prussian breeding-grounds where they had been pent up since the final partition ten years before,” during which time many of their captains died. The Polish dragons “might not answer to discipline well enough to serve in battle, without captain or crew, but they could profitably be set to scouting; and no harm done if they should take it on themselves to attack some hapless group of Prussian stragglers.”

What do you all think: how does it feel to be back in Europe? Does this book work better if you’re already familiar with the land portions of the Napoleonic Wars, or are generally more interested in military campaigns?

Next week, the dragon plague and Africa, in Empire of Ivory. See you then.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/05/04/the-temeraire-reread-black-powder-war/feed/21The Temeraire Reread: Throne of Jadehttps://www.tor.com/2016/04/27/the-temeraire-reread-throne-of-jade/
https://www.tor.com/2016/04/27/the-temeraire-reread-throne-of-jade/#commentsWed, 27 Apr 2016 20:00:42 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=211183Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th. We continue this week with the second novel, Throne of Jade, in which we head for China. You […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to the Temeraire Reread, in which I recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14th. We continue this week with the second novel, Throne of Jade, in which we head for China. You can catch up on past posts at the reread index, or check out Tor.com’s other posts about Naomi Novik’s works through her tag.

Reminder: these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (because I haven’t read it yet). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

(However, I will have uncertain internet access for several days after this post goes live; I promise to respond to comments as I can, though.)

PART I (Chapters 1-5)

Chapter 1

The novel opens very soon after the close of the first, in November 1805. Prince Yongxing, one of the brothers of the Emperor of China, has arrived to demand that Temeraire be sent to China.

Temeraire is refusing to go, and Laurence is refusing to lie to him to get him out to sea, much to the distress of both governments: the British are desperate to give China no reason to ally with France, while the Chinese are profoundly insulted by Temeraire being in military service—to a mere captain, to boot. At a meeting, an Aerial Corps Admiral sends Laurence away before Barham (the First Lord of the Admiralty) can order him arrested, or before Laurence actually hits someone.

Jane Roland is on liberty in London; she finds Laurence and takes him back to her inn for food and comfort sex. They are woken by the news that the Channel Fleet needs aerial support to attack a French convoy; Laurence goes to the London covert with Jane, to help on the ground.

At the covert, Laurence hears the divine wind and finds that Barham is telling Temeraire that Laurence has taken another dragon. Laurence has been obeying orders to the extent of staying away from Temeraire, but now rushes to Temeraire to stop him from hurting the defenseless humans. When Barham orders Laurence arrested, Temeraire picks Laurence up and carries him away to Dover, toward the battle he overheard Jane speak of.

Chapter 2

During the battle, Laurence’s crew fights off a boarding attack led by a gallant young Frenchman, and Laurence is knocked out by a French dragon’s attack. Laurence wakes to find Barham threatening to shoot Temeraire with a pepper-gun so that he can arrest Laurence. Violence is averted by the dragon-surgeon Keynes, who furiously points out that the commotion is stirring up all the dragons.

The next day, Barham intends to dismiss Laurence from the service and—somehow—send Temeraire to China alone, when an unexpected reprieve comes from Yongxing, who says that if Temeraire will not go without Laurence, then Laurence must go as well. (Barham: “Good God, if you want Laurence, you may damned well have him, and welcome.”)

Arrangements are made for a rapid departure: Admiral Lenton of the Corps sends Laurence’s crew with him, to avoid punishment for defending Laurence and Temeraire, and Laurence informs Riley (his lieutenant in the Navy, currently on shore) that the dragon transport Allegiance needs a captain. Laurence also meets Arthur Hammond, the very young but authoritative diplomat accompanying them. Hammond tells Laurence frankly that the British have no idea why China sent Temeraire’s egg to the French; it’s an act that shakes their foundational belief “that the Chinese were no more interested in the affairs of Europe than we are in the affairs of the penguins.”

Chapter 3

After much difficulty with baggage and manners, the Allegiance puts out to sea. Hammond maneuvers Riley into inviting the Chinese party to dinner, at which it comes out that they had forced four ships from the East India Company to bring them to England without pay. Laurence and Riley manage to keep violence from breaking out, but all of the British sailors and aviators are deeply offended and enraged.

Chapter 4

In the night, the Allegiance is attacked by two French frigates and a Fleur-de-Nuit dragon. Temeraire is at a disadvantage in the dark until the Chinese party supplements the ship’s flares with rockets (fireworks) out of their baggage. The additional light allows Temeraire to drive away the Fleur-de-Nuit, get his crew on board, and attack the French frigates with the divine wind. Unexpectedly, the wind causes a tremendous wave; the combination of the two tips one of the frigates over, sinking her entirely.

Temeraire was shot during his attack, but Lily’s formation had been doing exercises not too far away, and its arrival causes the other frigate to surrender.

Chapter 5

Everyone is unsettled by the British deaths in the battle, including that of ten-year-old runner Morgan, and by the almost eerie sinking of the French frigate. Yongxing is livid that Temeraire was injured and intends to set guards around Temeraire to keep Laurence and his crew away; Laurence responds by forbidding them access to the dragondeck. Despite this, Hammond manipulates an unknowing Riley into giving the Chinese party permission to walk the dragondeck. Laurence abhors Hammond’s behavior, which he views as tactless, single-minded seeking of diplomatic advantage; Hammond points out that humiliating Yongxing at sea will only make things worse on land.

Lily’s formation leaves on another transport, which is also carrying a dragon from an Indian tribe in Canada, exchanged from the breeding grounds for Praecursoris.

Commentary

There are two exciting air battles in this first part, which I have given short shrift because ultimately what’s more important for these purposes is all the setup.

Shall we do minor things first? On a reread, that dragon from North America ought to be introduced with a “dun dun dunnnh” sound effect: the illness he brings will set in motion much of the conflict of later books, and be the first alternate-history example of what academics call the Columbian Exchange. (A great popular-level read on the topic is 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by Charles C. Mann, who also wrote 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. I recommend them both highly—extremely readable, entertaining, and even-handed treatments of very important research. Seriously, if you’re reading this post you will like those, go check them out.)

Back in England, there was this very succinct comment from Admiral Lenton about the difficulty the non-Corps military has dealing with dragons: “If we ever manage to get it into their heads that dragons are not brute beasts, they start to imagine that they are just like men, and can be put under regular military discipline.” And that’s one of the ongoing struggles depicted in the series: are dragons just like humans? Can they, or should they, be treated the same way? Or, perhaps, should they all expect better treatment? (Note that later in this part, there’s a brief mention of abolitionists in Parliament gearing up for another push soon, to remind us that slavery is A Thing.)

As for the Chinese embassy: Yongxing is indeed the name of a son of the previous (Qianlong) Emperor, but by an Imperial Noble Consort rather than an Empress, which makes it doubtful that he could have been Emperor (as is stated in Chapter 12); so this Yongxing should probably be viewed as fictional. We also briefly meet Sun Kai and Liu Bao, who will both play more prominent roles in the next books. Otherwise, to me, the main effect of this part is to build the tension and the difficulty: Yongxing is implacably opposed to Temeraire and Laurence’s relationship, everyone but Hammond hates the Chinese embassy, Laurence and Hammond are getting along very poorly, and Temeraire and Laurence are both missing their friends and recovering from injury.

I am not convinced that the pacing of this novel is optimal; more about that later, but my first reaction, looking over this summary, is that the second battle might reasonably have been excised (though I admit that it sets the precedent for Lien’s destruction of the British fleet at the end of Victory of Eagles).

PART II (Chapters 6-10)

Chapter 6

The journey presents many problems. Laurence manages to make a friendly acquaintance in Liu Bao by offering him some ship’s biscuit as a remedy for seasickness. But the contact with Liu Bao exposes Temeraire to the concept of Chinese poetry written by dragons, and Prince Yongxing jumps at the opportunity to further Temeraire’s knowledge of Chinese (Temeraire remembers some from the shell; Laurence doesn’t know enough to convey which dialect). Laurence is worried and jealous, though Temeraire works hard to include him in conversations.

Because Temeraire is still healing from the battle, he cannot catch fish for his meals. This raises the prospect of stopping as a slave port to resupply, a fraught matter because Laurence is an abolitionist whose father once specifically attacked Riley’s slave-owning father in Parliament, an act that offended Riley, who actually likes his father.

Finally, the sailors fear Temeraire and resent the aviators for doing less work. This boils over in the form of one of the aviators, Blythe, striking a midshipman—to prevent the midshipman from challenging an aviator officer to a duel, because dueling is forbidden by the Corps, but Laurence will still have to allow Blythe to be flogged.

Chapter 7

Temeraire is deeply distressed by Blythe’s flogging and by seeing captives being driven into a slave ship; Laurence’s explanations only deepen the coldness between him and Riley that arose after Blythe’s punishment. The mood aboard ship worsens when they learn of the stunning French victory at Austerlitz, which broke the coalition against Napoleon. They briefly debate turning back, but Hammond impresses upon them the need to protect Britain’s trade in the East so that they can supply their allies on the Continent.

Temeraire, frustrated at everything and particularly at not being able to fly, takes it upon himself to go swimming, which at least is successful. But Temeraire’s good mood seems to prompt Yongxing to speak frankly to Laurence: he promises that China will not go to war with Britain or its allies, if Laurence will encourage Temeraire’s return to China. Reflexively, Laurence refuses, which Hammond actually approves of from a negotiating stance: “how much more progress may we not hope to make?”

This depresses Laurence more, because it seems that “a truly advantageous treaty” might be possible after all, and then it would be his duty to separate from Temeraire. To top it all off, as they leave Cape Coast, they see a slave revolt brutally suppressed.

Chapter 8

The tension between the sailors and aviators is slightly broken by the ceremony of crossing the equator and the resulting invitation to a feast celebrating the Chinese New Year. The mood is further improved by the news that the British have taken the Dutch settlement at Capetown; this comes via the courier dragon Volly, who also brings a terrible cold and greetings from their formation, whose dragons miss Temeraire because he taught them how to open the feeding pen at Dover.

At the feast, Sun Kai prompts Laurence to write down the history of his family’s title and connection to the English monarchy (“he had to leave several given names blank, marking them with interrogatives, before finally reaching Edward III after several contortions and one leap through the Salic line”). Temeraire also enjoys feast dishes from the Chinese cooks.

After the feast, Laurence is struck on the back by Feng Li, a servant of Yongxing; Laurence assumes automatically that Feng Li lost his footing on the deck.

Chapter 9

In Capetown, Temeraire continues to suffer a reduced appetite from the cold he caught from Volly. Laurence swallows his pride and asks Yongxing if the Chinese cooks would make more flavorful dishes for Temeraire; Yongxing agrees with alacrity and more courtesy than usual. The Chinese cooks, encouraged by Temeraire’s positive reaction, urge the local children to bring them increasingly-bizarre ingredients, which culminates in “a misshapen and overgrown fungus … so fetid” that the five children who found it “carried it with faces averted.” Temeraire enjoys it and is much improved afterward.

The Allegiance leaves Capetown. During a storm, Feng Li attacks Laurence, but is washed overboard. Laurence is too numb from the storm to take action initially; after, he reluctantly agrees with Hammond that no good can come of accusing Yongxing.

Chapter 10

The ship hunts many seals at New Amsterdam; the resulting butchering attracts an enormous sea-serpent, which comes close to crushing the ship in its coils before Temeraire kills it. He is very distressed at having to do so, though to Laurence “the lack of sentience in the creature’s eyes had been wholly obvious.” It develops that Temeraire has been pondering obedience to orders, slavery, and his dependence on Laurence, and fears that dragons are no better than slaves. Laurence eventually admits that it is unfair that dragons’ movements are restricted by humans’ fears, and promises Temeraire that “whatever inconveniences society may impose upon you, I would no more consider you a slave than myself, and I will always be glad to serve you in overcoming these as I may.”

Commentary

Less in the way of exciting action, more in the way of pervasive unhappiness; I hardly require that every page of every novel be unalloyed cheer, that would not serve in the least, but I do think this middle part, which is all voyage, could have stood to be trimmed.

Things that are setup for the rest of the novel: the ongoing lack of sympathy between Laurence and Hammond; Laurence’s ancestry, which will give him unexpected status in China; and Feng Li’s murder attempts. Things that are setup for the rest of the series: the fungus that cures Temeraire’s illness; Temeraire’s continuing and deepening concern over the status of dragons; the giant sea-serpent (I’ll have to compare descriptions when we get to the ones used for transport in Tongues of Serpents); and the topics of slavery and Africa, including a bit that I didn’t summarize from Chapter 8, when Laurence and Temeraire take a long flight inland over Africa, over the “unchanging jungle”: Laurence tells Temeraire that “Even the most powerful tribes live only along the coasts … ; there are too many feral dragons and other beasts, too savage to confront.”

I will have more to say about the differing factions in China when we get there, but it’s worth noting that Prince Yongxing gives a long speech in Chapter 7 explaining his position:

“We do not desire anything that is yours, or to come and force our ways upon you,” Yongxing said. “From your small island you come to our country, and out of kindness you are allowed to buy our tea and silk and porcelain, which you so passionately desire. But still you are not content; you forever demand more and more, while your missionaries try to spread your foreign religion and your merchants smuggle opium in defiance of the law. We do not need your trinkets, your clockworks and lamps and guns; our land is sufficient unto itself. In so unequal a position, you should show threefold gratitude and submission to the Emperor, and instead you offer one insult heaped on another. Too long already has this disrespect been tolerated.”

And now, China, finally!

PART III (Chapters 11-17)

Chapter 11

On June 16, 1806, the Allegiance arrives at Macao (a Portuguese settlement in mainland China, near Hong Kong) and waits for instructions from the Emperor. Laurence is shocked when those instructions arrive from Peking (Beijing), two thousand miles away, just three days after their arrival.

In the interim, Laurence and Hammond had met with commissioners of the East India Company, who see their arrival as the opportunity to retaliate against the Chinese government for seizing the Company’s ships. In the resulting lengthy discussion, Laurence sees that Hammond and the commissioners disagree on almost everything, which further undermines his confidence in Hammond.

They depart rapidly, in obedience to the Emperor’s word, taking ten members of Temeraire’s crew plus the remaining runners, Roland and Dyer (at the suggestion of Staunton, one of the Company commissioners). Laurence also arranges for the Allegiance to follow as soon as it is resupplied, so that they have an escape mechanism (and he has Staunton’s advice).

Chapter 12

As the reduced party journeys to Peking, Laurence notes the immensity of the country and the density of its population—human and dragon—and fends off attempts to physically separate him from Temeraire.

On the way, they meet Lien, a Celestial who is companion to Yongxing. Her “shockingly pure white” scales are the color of mourning and therefore she is considered unlucky; Liu Bao explains that Yongxing refused to let the Qianlong Emperor send her to a prince in Mongolia, which disqualified him from the throne.

They arrive in Peking and a standoff regarding etiquette is interrupted by Qian, Temeraire’s mother.

Chapter 13

At a welcome feast, Laurence meets De Guignes, the charming French ambassador, and coincidentally the uncle of the gallant young Frenchman who led the boarding attempt of Temeraire in Chapter 2.

The next day, Laurence and Temeraire explore Peking. They learn that army dragons have only women for companions, which developed from (1) a version of the story of Mulan and (2) families’ preference to send girls to the army in times of conscription. Moreover, all dragons wait until they are 15 months old to choose companions, and are raised and taught by other dragons until then. The city itself was clearly designed for dragons and humans to live and work together: they see dragons acting as transport, dragons in the civil service, dragons with and without human companions, all “engaged in many errands.” Laurence admits to Temeraire that he was mistaken, and that “plainly” humans “can be accustomed” to the close presence of dragons. Laurence also buys a number of items, including a beautiful red vase.

Back at the pavilion, Sun Kai brings an invitation for Laurence and Temeraire from Qian, Temeraire’s mother, and strongly hints that her good opinion is important. As a result, in private conversation with Qian, Laurence swallows his pride and “puff[s] of his consequence” when a servant brings out a copy of the family tree he made at the Chinese New Year feast. Qian stuns Laurence when she says that Celestials do not breed among themselves, only with Imperials, and that there are only eight Celestials left in the world, of whom she and Lien are the only females. (Two Imperials do occasionally give birth to Celestials.) The rest of the British are also stunned, both regarding the risk of extinction and because they are even more baffled as to why the Chinese sent Temeraire’s egg away.

Chapter 14

Laurence gives Temeraire leave to visit Qian alone, which Laurence finds upsetting both because he worries that Temeraire will want to stay and because Hammond disapproves. Yongxing brings a plainly-dressed adolescent boy to visit Temeraire in an entirely transparent attempt to supplant Laurence; the boy and Temeraire aren’t interested in each other, but Laurence and Hammond fight even more over how to handle it.

On Laurence’s orders, Yongxing and the boy are denied access to Temeraire the next day. That afternoon, after Temeraire goes to visit Qian, Sun Kai wakes Laurence and tells him, in perfect English, “Come with me if you want to live”—okay, actually he says, “You must come with me at once: men are coming here to kill you, and all your companions also,” but close enough. Laurence is shocked that Sun Kai can speak English, and does not trust him enough to put them all in his power; he points out to Hammond that this could be an attempt to separate them from Temeraire, who should return within a few hours. Sun Kai leaves, and Hammond stays.

The British barricade themselves in the pavilion and fight off approximately a hundred brigands, in multiple waves lasting all night. Everyone fights and kills, including the young runners and Hammond. One of the aviators is killed, and several are seriously wounded, but the attackers finally flee after enormous casualties. At the end of the chapter, Laurence surveys the scene: “There was no sign of Temeraire. He had not come.”

Chapter 15

Shortly after the end of the attack, Sun Kai finds them “half-blind and numb with exhaustion,” and takes them to Prince Mianning, the crown prince. That evening, Temeraire returns, distressed and guilty; he had lost track of time because he was “with Mei,” a female Imperial dragon.

Temeraire explains that Mianning is companion to his older twin, Chuan. Hammond realizes that Temeraire’s egg was sent away to avoid setting up a rival for the throne, meaning that there is no alliance with France and that Mianning has every motivation to see Temeraire leave again.

They recover from the attack, and Temeraire continues his education and his courting of Mei. They are invited to dinner by Liu Bao, who tells Laurence that no one can stop Temeraire from continuing to be his companion, and casually suggests, “Why doesn’t the Emperor adopt you? That would save face for everyone.” Hammond seizes on the idea enthusiastically, and Laurence reluctantly agrees.

Chapter 16

The Allegiance arrives with Granby and Staunton of the East India Company; they had helped a Chinese fleet defeat “an enormous band of pirates,” including dragons. At a theatrical performance given to honor the new arrivals, they see the boy who Prince Yongxing introduced to Temeraire—Prince Miankai, the Crown Prince’s younger brother.

“Laurence,” Hammond said, “I must beg your pardon; you were perfectly right. Plainly Yongxing did mean to make the boy Temeraire’s companion in your place, and now at last I understand why: he must mean to put the boy on the throne, somehow, and establish himself as regent.”

“Is the Emperor ill, or an old man?” Laurence said, puzzled.

“No,” Staunton said meaningfully. “Not in the least.”

Temeraire, already angry at hearing this, becomes murderous when an assassin strikes Laurence with a thrown dagger; he quickly kills the assassin and then stalks toward Yongxing, who Lien intervenes to protect. In the resulting fight, Temeraire’s greater experience is giving him an advantage; but the dragons destroy the wooden stage, which “burst[s] into foot-long shards of wood.” Laurence saves Mianning’s life by knocking him out of the way; Yongxing is killed instantly. Lien retreats from the fight, gathers Yongxing’s body, and flies away.

Chapter 17

Laurence is formally adopted by the Emperor and granted an estate, giving the British the equivalent of an embassy (Hammond will stay there). He and Temeraire are also officially bound as companions.

Afterward, they see Lien walking with a man (revealed next book to be De Guignes). Laurence asks Temeraire if he would like them to stay in China, which Hammond and Staunton both suggested. He tells Temeraire that while he would prefer to go home, “I would rather see you happy; and I cannot think how I could make you so in England, now you have seen how dragons are treated here.” Temeraire ponders this and concludes, “I could not be happy while I knew Maximus and Lily were still being treated so badly. It seems to me my duty to go back and arrange things better there.” Laurence is initially taken aback, but then agrees.

They end the book contemplating poetry and the tides, respectively.

Supplementary Material

This book includes more excerpts from the writings of Sir Edward Howe, the naturalist we met in the first book. It mentions that John Saris visited Japan in 1613 and that the Sui-Riu breed had the “capacity to swallow massive quantities of water and expel them in violent gusts, a gift which renders it inexpressibly valuable not only in battle, but in the protection of the wooden buildings of Japan from the dangers of fire.”

Sir Edward describes something of how dragons function in Chinese society: there is a Ministry of Draconic Affairs to handle food supplies (helped by using dragon dung as fertilizer, which permits a yield “an order of magnitude” more than that of British farms). He also explains how the financial system works: dragons pay by leaving their mark for merchants to redeem from their accounts, never defraud humans (by their standards, anyway), and never suffer themselves to be defrauded: “Chinese law expressly waives any penalty for a dragon who kills a man proven guilty of such a theft [from their accounts]; the ordinary sentence is indeed the exposure of the perpetrator to the dragon.”

Commentary

So much to talk about! I know it’s a three-volume structure, but I remain unconvinced that leaving China for the third volume was optimal, because there’s just so much potential to explore there.

Let’s start with alternate history and the denouement. My opinion of this has changed over time, as I learned more about Chinese history. When I didn’t know much, I remembered thinking that it was awfully convenient that the “good” faction was the one that advocated interaction with the West; I had a vague sense that such interaction had been pretty lousy for China and thought that Yongxing had a point in the big speech I quoted above, though not to the point of murderous conspiracies, of course.

Then I read the relevant parts of the brick China: A New History, by John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman, in preparation for this project. (I recommend it, though like I said: brick.) That book described the treaties that China signed starting in the 1840s, which were literally a byword for inequality (here’s Encyclopædia Britannica and Wikipedia on the topic). Fairbank calls “the social disruption and psychological demoralization caused by foreign imperialism….… a disaster so comprehensive and appalling that we are still incapable of fully describing it” (Chapter 9). So from this slightly more knowledgeable perspective, it seemed that this AU provided China with reasons to choose to engage with Western nations earlier, plus a better position when it did, which I presume (or at least hope) will thereby allow it to avoid the Century of Humiliation. And since I really enjoy the way this series says “Dragons are awesome! Let’s see how many ways they can make the 19th century suck less,” I’m glad to add this to the list. (However, I am painfully aware that reading one book, even if it is a giant and well-respected one, still leaves me far short of expertise, and I would very much like to hear the thoughts of those more knowledgeable.)

It’s a matter of opinion how much of this historical divergence and its significance the book should convey. There’s an argument that fiction is written for an assumed audience that probably knows about X and Y, but maybe less about Z, and so an author should take that into account when writing about Z. There’s also an argument that readers are perfectly capable of inferring worldbuilding and/or doing research when reading fiction about X, Y, or Z, and that there’s something to be said for treating X, Y, and Z on equal footing. I generally prefer the second approach; my only hesitation here is that I don’t know how well the full effect of the series comes across if people don’t have the context and don’t seek it out.

(There are some passing references that I can’t match up precisely, either because of my own research failure or because they’re alternate history. In Chapter 11, Laurence hears Hammond and the commissioners talk of “some local unrest among the peasants and the state of affairs in Thibet, where apparently some sort of outright rebellion was in progress; the trade deficit and the necessity of opening more Chinese markets; difficulties with the Inca over the South American route.” Obviously the bit about the Inca is alternate history, and “local unrest” could be anything; but I haven’t found anything about a rebellion in Tibet in 1806, and suppressing the pirates in the Zhoushan Islands (Chapter 16) happened centuries earlier in our history.)

Okay, let’s shift gears. Dragons! How cool are all the different ways that dragons are full members of Chinese society? I loved that so much when I first read it. (I still love it, it just takes up less of my attention now that it’s familiar; one of the perils of rereading.) Such fun SFF worldbuilding. I do wish we knew what oaths dragons and humans take when they’re formally bound as companions, though. And of course Temeraire is now set on the path of the reformer.

A friend of mine once noted that Temeraire is a third culture kid, someone who spends significant time during their developmental years in a culture that’s not their parents’, and who must negotiate a cultural identity in light of these first two cultures. We see this in the series in Temeraire’s determination to adapt Chinese practices to British life, and the relationships he will maintain with his mother and Mei. (I should put this somewhere for reference, and here’s as good as any: Temeraire’s birth name was Lung Tien Xiang; the Temeraire wiki has details on the characters used and some transliteration issues.)

We also get a few more tidbits about dragon breeds. I’d forgotten about the extreme rarity of Celestials, but that’s a problem that, potentially, Temeraire and Iskierka have solved. (I haven’t read the last book yet, so I don’t know if their egg hatches successfully. Also, I have no idea what it will do to the international balance of commercial and political power if suddenly China starts seeking many Kaziliks.) I also liked the note that female dragons are generally not maternal after hatching (Granby: “Not that they don’t care at all, but after all, a dragonet can take the head off a goat five minutes after it breaks the shell; they don’t need mothering.”). Between dragon mothers and Jane Roland, we get a portrait of caring but hands-off motherhood, which is somewhat unusual and thereby refreshing.

The question of roles for women otherwise is not a focus of this book. We are told early that Harcourt has been given command of the formation (and her age, which is twenty), and Riley discovers that Emily is female, which will prepare him to meet Harcourt later. And, as I mentioned in the summary, all army dragons have women as companions.

The two major new characters introduced by this book are Lien, who is a fabulous antagonist [*], and Hammond, who is knowledgeable, correct about many things, and unexpectedly brave, but, possibly, could stand to employ diplomacy on those of his own country … ? I don’t recall getting very excited when we meet up with Hammond again, but we’ll see. As for Lien, I think I would regret the waste if she ended the series dead, but it’s hard to imagine that she might accept defeat short of that. *valiantly suppresses urge to spoil self with review copy*

[*] I should mention the Evil Albino stereotype. I feel that because the series shows that Lien acts from loyalty to the one person who didn’t ostracize her for her color, it avoids the most harmful parts of this stereotype; but this is not an issue that hits me where I live, so I’m even more aware than usual that opinions may reasonably vary.

Last little note: I love it when fiction manages to convey to the readers something that the characters don’t know. It happens here in Chapters 11 and 12; first Laurence writes to Jane and tells her that Keynes, the dragon surgeon, thinks the aviators largely escaped malaria because “the heat of his body in some wise dispels the Miasmas which cause the ague,” and then Laurence notes that “mosquitos … evidently did not care for the dry heat given off by a dragon’s body.” Hah! Miasmas indeed. (I hate mosquitoes, because their bites make me swell up enormously; just another reason to wish for my own dragon!)

Be thoughtful and courteous in the comments, and I’ll check in when I can; and I’ll definitely be here next week for Black Powder War.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.

]]>https://www.tor.com/2016/04/27/the-temeraire-reread-throne-of-jade/feed/15The Temeraire Reread: His Majesty’s Dragon / Temerairehttps://www.tor.com/2016/04/20/the-temeraire-reread-his-majestys-dragon-temeraire/
https://www.tor.com/2016/04/20/the-temeraire-reread-his-majestys-dragon-temeraire/#commentsWed, 20 Apr 2016 14:00:05 +0000http://www.tor.com/?p=211156Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Temeraire Reread, in which I will recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We begin this week with His Majesty’s Dragon (released in the UK as Temeraire). This reread is […]]]>

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Temeraire Reread, in which I will recap and review Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, one novel a week, leading up to the release of the final volume, League of Dragons, on June 14, 2016. We begin this week with His Majesty’s Dragon (released in the UK as Temeraire).

This reread is as much preparation for me as for anyone else, because while I enjoy the series greatly, I also remember its events less well the further it goes. (The worst instance of this was on my first reading of the most recent novel, Blood of Tyrants, where for a long time, I managed to forget not just the details of the prior novel, Crucible of Gold, but its very existence. Whoops.) And while I’ve really enjoyed the general direction of the alternate history that’s been created and revealed over the series, I’m also curious to see how some of its components look after a bit more research and the passage of time.

As usual, because this is a reread, these posts may contain spoilers through all currently-published novels, but will contain no spoilers for the forthcoming League of Dragons (I have a review copy, but I’ve been so swamped that I’m saving it for an upcoming vacation). If you have read League, absolutely no spoilers! But there’s no need to warn for spoilers about the published books, so spoil—and comment!—away.

Because we’re doing one novel per post, and because the novels are divided into three parts each, my plan is to summarize each chapter in a part, then comment on that part as a whole; I think doing chapter-by-chapter commentary would be too fragmented. I’m also trying to make the summaries brief, but if I’ve edited out some necessary connective tissue or you have questions about some detail I didn’t include, don’t hesitate to ask.

And a final scene-setting note: I wouldn’t be doing this reread if I didn’t love the series! But I neither love nor read uncritically. Some of these posts will therefore be about aspects of the novel that don’t work for me for various reasons. If those aspects work for you, I’d love to hear why. I learned a lot from people who commented during the other rereads I’ve done here; so let’s talk.

PART I (Chapters 1-3)

Chapter 1

The book begins in early 1805. The British ship Reliant, captained by William Laurence, has just captured the French frigate Amitié—and the dragon egg it is transporting. Laurence has his officers draw lots to determine who shall attempt to harness the dragon; most of them would rather not, because aviators live outside society. When the dragon hatches, however, he ignores the chosen officer and instead speaks to Laurence, who harnesses him out of a sense of duty and names him Temeraire, after the ship.

Chapter 2

For the first week and a half, like many infants, Temeraire only eats, sleeps, and grows, which does little to endear him to Laurence. During a storm, he and Laurence fly for the first time, to rescue a sailor who fell overboard. They then begin to practice flying together, and Laurence discovers the thrill of flight. He and Temeraire also begin having actual conversations, discussing dragon abilities (Temeraire’s are unknown, along with his breed) and past naval battles.

Chapter 3

The Reliant comes to harbor at Madeira. There, Temeraire demonstrates both his propensity to question fundamental human social norms such as “property” and his appreciation of shiny things. Sir Edward Howe of the Royal Society identifies Temeraire as a Chinese Imperial: “the very best of all possible breeds; only the Celestials are more rare or valuable, and were you one of those, I suppose the Chinese would go to war over our having put you into harness, so we must be glad you are not.” However, as an Imperial, Temeraire is unlikely to have special offensive abilities.

Laurence and Temeraire meet their first members of the Aerial Corps, Captain James and Volatilus (Volly), on dispatch service. James and Volly bring the news of Temeraire’s harnessing to the Corps, which immediately sends a Lieutenant Dayes to replace Laurence. Laurence is very sad at the news, but acquiesces because he believes it best for Temeraire to be partnered with someone experienced.

However, Temeraire refuses to accept Dayes, even though Dayes lied and said that Laurence wanted his ship back.

“If you would like to have your ship back,” Temeraire said, “I will let someone else ride me. Not [Dayes], because he says things that are not true; but I will not make you stay.”

Laurence stood motionless for a moment, his hands still on Temeraire’s head, with the dragon’s warm breath curling around him. “No, my dear,” he said at last, softly, knowing it was only the truth. “I would rather have you than any ship in the Navy.”

Commentary

As Novik has said, the Temeraire series came about when she was writing alternate universe (AU) fanfic of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series (see Jo Walton’s rereads) and the characters went sideways on her:

What happened with Temeraire was, I got into Aubrey/Maturin fandom and started writing fic, then started writing AU stories, and the AUs started getting longer and longer and more elaborate, until one day I started noodling a dragon-riding AU that kept not working as fanfic; the characters weren’t feeling like themselves and the relationship didn’t match, and and I didn’t actually want to FIX it, I wanted to keep going with MY characters, and that’s when I realized I was writing original fiction, so I scrapped it and started writing Temeraire.

Obviously I’m glad that the story went that way, because if it hadn’t turned into original fic, Novik couldn’t have sold it and it would be vastly less likely that she could develop the story over such length. But I confess, a little guiltily, that I find Will Laurence less interesting than Jack Aubrey. When I think about Laurence, my overwhelming impression comes from—of all places—A Song of Ice and Fire, because if anyone ever deserved House Tully’s words of “Family, Duty, Honor,” it’s Laurence. [*] I like Laurence, I get where he’s coming from, I feel for him when he’s upset, I want him to have a happy ending—but he doesn’t live and breathe for me the way Aubrey does. (A high bar to clear, I know, I know.)

[*] I stopped reading ASoIaF after book two, but I am aware that, surprise surprise given Westeros, at least one prominent member of the House has a rather bloody interpretation of “duty” and “honor.”

This may be because Laurence is set among a bunch of other characters that take up a lot of the energy in the metaphorical room, first and foremost Temeraire himself. He is curious, enthusiastic, and affectionate; and as the books progress, he demonstrates an interesting mix of innocence (both in his lack of knowledge and in his very straightforward and open approach to life) and keen intelligence. Much of this novel is about Laurence learning about, and reacting to, Temeraire’s personality, and overall, Temeraire is the one who pushes change in their relationship; for that reason alone I’d probably find him more interesting.

At any rate, this first part establishes Laurence and Temeraire as freely-chosen partners and gives us a sense of what they’re like as individuals. It deliberately does much less in terms of worldbuilding: we are told that aviators are not part of society, and that “[t]he Chinese had been breeding dragons for thousands of years before the Romans had ever domesticated the wild breeds of Europe” (Chapter 3), but otherwise everything would be very comfortable to Aubrey-Maturin readers or anyone otherwise familiar with the Napoleonic Wars: the British are fighting the French, ships are captured as prizes, the British have a port at Madeira, Nelson won the Battle of the Nile, and so forth.

I know at least one person who disliked this closeness to our history, on the perfectly reasonable basis that intelligent, domesticated dragons ought to have a bigger effect on the course of history. Yes, the series gives in-book reasons why Britain is relatively unaffected and contrasts it with a number of other societies; and out-of-book, that closeness to our history eases the reader in by reducing the amount of exposition they have to process at first, as well as establishes a baseline against which further changes will be measured. But all that is still the price of admission, much like the price of admission to space opera is FTL, and it’s a price that not everyone’s willing to pay. As some of you know from the Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Reread, I am willing, but I also like this series (and JS&MN) more the farther afield it goes from our history.

(Aside: I am fascinated by this micro-trend of using genre elements to create AUs of specific historical periods that are less unjust than the originals. Of things I’ve read, there’s this, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Zen Cho’s excellent Sorceror to the Crown, and (in romance) Courtney Milan’s new Worth Saga, where the genre element is “multi-book family saga with one couple per book, but an overarching goal.” Feel free to recommend more!)

PART II (Chapters 4-8)

Chapter 4

Aerial Command sends Laurence and Temeraire to Loch Laggan in Scotland. On the way, they spend the night at Laurence’s family home, which he expected to find empty. Instead, his parents are entertaining guests. His father, Lord Allendale, already disapproved of Laurence’s Naval service, and the Aerial Corps is even worse; he stops short of formally disowning Laurence only because he dislikes scandal. Laurence tells Edith Galman, with whom he has had an informal understanding for years, that he still wants to marry her, but she rebukes him:

Have I ever been mercenary; have I ever reproached you for following your chosen course, with all its attendant dangers and discomforts? … I have waited; I have been patient; but I have been waiting for something better than a solitary life, far from the society of all my friends and family, with only a very little share of your attention. My feelings are just as they have always been, but I am not so reckless or sentimental as to rely on feeling alone to ensure happiness in the face of every possible obstacle.

Laurence apologizes, guilty and ashamed. He is at least able to introduce his mother to Temeraire, and reassure her about his happiness.

Chapter 5

Laurence discovers that the training master at Loch Laggan is an unharnessed dragon, Celeritas. Manners and habit hide his initial shock, and after that he accepts the idea with little difficulty.

Difficulty arises instead with the aviators. Lieutenant John Granby is initially friendly but becomes very rude out of loyalty to Dayes, the Lieutenant rejected by Temeraire. Laurence also offends many of the ground crew by insisting that Temeraire not be harnessed when on the ground, for his comfort, and by strongly hinting that someone should attend to a neglected courier dragon, Levitas. He does make the pleasant acquaintance of young (apparent) boys who serve as “runners,” and of Hollin, a ground crew member who volunteers to help Levitas.

Chapter 6

Laurence meets more people:

Captain Berkley of Maximus, who is rather abrupt but not hostile;

Captain Jeremy Rankin, whose manners are more formal than other aviators’ and therefore is a more comfortable acquaintance to Laurence, but who is later revealed to be Levitas’s neglectful captain;

Captain Catherine Harcourt of Lily, whose existence is a surprise, but who Laurence (mostly) manages to treat as a fellow officer; and

officially, Emily Roland, the runner he was most impressed with previously (and thought was a boy).

Laurence and Temeraire train with Berkley and Maximus (a Regal Copper, a heavyweight breed), so that they can join Lily’s formation: Lily is a Longwing, a breed that spits acid and will only accept women as captains. Laurence takes a short break for a trip to Edinburgh, where he buys Temeraire an extravagant pendant.

Chapter 7

At the end of weeks of rigorous training, Temeraire and Maximus are called on to physically support an injured dragon, Victoriatus, as he flies to Loch Laggan.

Temeraire arrives first, and Victoriatus unintentionally claws him, injuring him and nearly severing the harness that all the humans attach to. Laurence stops the harness from breaking, but comes close to sliding to his death; Temeraire is ready to save Laurence at the cost of the lives of Victoriatus and Victoriatus’s crew. Granby saves Laurence, then Maximus arrives and the rest of the trip is merely exhausting instead of terrifying.

When they return, Celeritas tells them that they will join Lily’s formation when Temeraire has recovered from his minor injuries. Temeraire’s ground crew will be led by Hollin, and the aerial crew will be led by Granby, whose opinion of Laurence changed for the better after witnessing Laurence’s bravery.

Chapter 8

Rankin is furious when he discovers that Laurence has been nice to Levitas, and Celeritas is obligated to order Laurence to stop.

Temeraire and Laurence learn to fly in formation and, with the after-hours help of the crew, develop maneuvers that take advantage of Temeraire’s unusual flying abilities. Laurence begins to feel a sense of camaraderie with, and acceptance by, the aviators.

A new heavyweight dragon arrives at the covert, Praecursoris, captained by Choiseul, a French officer who fled to Austria during the French Revolution; they have fled again because Napoleon intends to demand their surrender from Austria.

At the end of the chapter, Celeritas sends Lily’s formation to the Channel to replace a more experienced Longwing formation: the Corps must send support to Nelson at Cadiz, Spain, where the French fleet under Villeneuve has been caught and penned up (along with the Spanish fleet).

Commentary

I love Novik’s action scenes. They’re great competence porn, they develop character (Laurence being quick to act and the first to recover his wits; Temeraire ready to sacrifice dozens of lives for Laurence’s), and they’re simply thrilling. I love training sequences, too, don’t get me wrong—there’s something very satisfying about watching characters learn how to do stuff—but the rescue of Victoriatus is a canny change of pace at this point in the novel. I didn’t find the earlier parts boring, because Laurence adjusting to his new life was plenty to keep me engaged, but I can see that tastes would easily vary on that.

This whole second part is pointing the knowledgeable reader toward the Battle of Trafalgar, from the very start of Chapter 4, where Laurence tells us that Nelson is trying to lure the French fleet out of Toulon. Throughout the chapters, we get breadcrumbs that match our history: in Chapter 6, we hear that the French have slipped away from Toulon, and in Chapter 7, Laurence relays news from Riley (his former second lieutenant in the Navy, who was indeed given command of the Reliant) that Nelson has chased Villeneuve across the Atlantic. This of course leads up to the Chapter 8 news that the French fleet has been trapped at Cadiz—but even as Novik gives us the expectation of Trafalgar, she underlines the reason why the French fleet is feared, that it will let Napoleon cross the Channel with an army. And both of those things will pay off at the end of the novel.

This part also develops a bit more of the history, abilities, and cultural norms around dragons, particularly in Britain. Different British breeds are mentioned—rare heavy-weight Regal Coppers, acid-spitting Longwings, maneuverable Anglewings, mid-sized Yellow Reapers, and small fast Winchesters and Greylings. We learn that dragons absorb language through the shell (which of course makes sense, but when I first read this, I hadn’t bothered to wonder how Temeraire hatched speaking perfect English), and that they have a very short period to sexual maturity: Temeraire sprouts a ruff and tendrils in Chapter 8, the latter of which are erogenous zones (as Laurence is mortified to inadvertently discover).

And, of course, we learn about female aviators. I love that they exist, naturally, but when I first read the book, it seemed improbable that the entire breed of Longwings would only accept female captains, and thus it felt a bit too obvious a contrivance. This time around, I theorized that Longwings don’t have an innate preference, that very early on, some smart woman befriended one before hatching and then saw the chance to create opportunities for other women, which leads Longwings to be socialized in the shell into thinking they have a preference. Unfortunately, this theory is contradicted by Throne of Jade, where Granby says, “We used to lose Longwings by the dozen, until Queen Elizabeth had the bright idea of setting her serving-maid to one and we found they would take to girls like lambs, and then it turned out the Xenicas would, too.” (Chapter 13; also that is literally the only mention of Xenicas in the entire eight books to date, at least if my ebooks can be trusted, so don’t ask me.) So I guess this is just another thing I have to shrug and accept.

Regardless, Harcourt, Emily Roland, and later Jane Roland are excellent characters and I’m glad to have them. Harcourt also illustrates how Laurence’s habits of thought are still part naval: his sense of military duty causes him to treat her as a fellow officer, but he doesn’t recognize that when Rankin (boo hiss) constantly makes her uncomfortable, Rankin is demonstrating that he’s out of touch with aviator attitudes generally. We also get introduced to the concept of multi-generational aviator families, when Celeritas tells Laurence (in Chapter 8) that Rankin’s father and grandfather both served with him, though Laurence doesn’t make the leap to Emily Roland being part of such a family.

Other history tidbits, since they wouldn’t fit in the summaries:

Sir Francis Drake destroyed the Spanish Armada with a dragon named Conflagratia (the name suggests a fire-breather, and I see that in our history, fireships were used against the Armada, but the faux-academic material excerpted at the end of this book says that Britain never had fire-breathers).

Sir Edward Howe’s “volume of dragon stories from the Orient” includes stories of:

“Xiao Sheng, the emperor’s minister, who swallowed a pearl from a dragon’s treasury and became a dragon himself” (I’ve found a couple English-language retellings of similar stories, which tend toward a kid doing the swallowing, but don’t have the research chops or access to find scholarly discussion of its origins).

There are still a few pirate ships or dragon-crews in the Caribbean, but real piracy there is over.

Finally, Part II lays groundwork for personal conflicts to come. On a small note, when Laurence stops at his home, he meets Bertram Woolvey, Edith’s future husband; Woolvey’s uninformed enthusiasm over military matters will reappear when he does.

More broadly, the foundation continues to be laid for the ongoing tensions of Laurence and Temeraire’s relationship. In Chapter 4, while on the way to Loch Laggan, Temeraire doesn’t understand why Laurence considers the both of them subject to the King’s orders, and Laurence finds it “sadly puzzling to have to work out explanations for what to him seemed natural and obvious.” In response, Laurence jokingly suggests that they turn pirate to feed Temeraire, which Temeraire finds very appealing. The question of obeying orders will consume much of the series, particularly from Empire of Ivory on; and in Tongues of Serpents, Laurence will decline the opportunity to become a privateer.

Finally, is anything more Laurence in a nutshell than this, from Chapter 4? “[H]e thought how little the rest of the world should matter to him when he was secure in the good opinion of those he valued most, and in the knowledge that he was doing his duty.”

PART III (Chapters 9-12)

Chapter 9

On the way to Dover, Lily’s formation is attacked by French dragons. Temeraire defends Lily and saves her from a fatal wound, but Lily is still badly injured before Praecursoris (who was flying ahead of the formation) gets the British dragons organized again. The French dragons retreat at the arrival of Excidium, the Longwing stationed at the Channel. As Lily recovers, Laurence notices that Harcourt and Choiseul have become close.

At the covert, Laurence meets Jane Roland, Emily’s mother and captain of Excidium. They have a long conversation over a late meal, and Laurence is a bit shocked to hear that Jane is unmarried and that the Corps will also expect him to have children for Temeraire’s sake. (He is more shocked when she tells him she would offer to bear said children, but the timing is poor.)

Chapter 10

Temeraire and Laurence visit the Channel Fleet, which is blockading the French port of Brest, with mail and dispatches. Laurence is told that “the French are busy as bees inland outside Cherbourg,” which must be preparations for the invasion. At dinner, Laurence realizes that rigid Naval custom can be unkind, and is furious when an acquaintance calls his new life “appalling.” In response to the reports of French activity, Admiral Lenton prepares to send Excidium to Cadiz.

Laurence has another late meal with Jane Roland, who asks him about Emily’s fitness for the Corps (she is relieved when he speaks highly of Emily) and then kisses him.

Chapter 11

Excidium’s formation leaves for Cadiz; arriving safely, they immediately begin attacking the French and Spanish fleets, trying to drive them out.

While most are distracted celebrating this encouraging news, Choiseul takes Harcourt hostage and kills one of her crew, meaning to take Lily to Napoleon. Laurence and Temeraire hear Lily’s distress; Laurence gets Harcourt out of Choiseul’s grip, and Harcourt ends the fight with an iron bar to Choiseul’s head.

Choiseul agrees to talk on the condition that he not have to face Harcourt any more. He admits to Laurence that he has been working for Napoleon since he came from Austria, because he believes Napoleon’s victory is inevitable and feared for Praecursoris’s life. Choiseul was ordered to retrieve Temeraire’s egg, because it was a gift directly to Napoleon, but settled on abducting Lily now that Temeraire had hatched. Napoleon “desired [him] to urge the weakening of the covert here most particularly, to have as many sent south to the Mediterranean as could be arranged.”

The covert prepares for action, but nothing happens but the welcome news of the Battle of Trafalgar (which Nelson survives, barely). The next day, Choiseul is hanged, after convincing Praecursoris to go to Newfoundland. Temeraire, Maximum, and Lily (and their captains) are all very upset; they huddle for comfort and the dragons resolve to (a) not let their captains commit treason and (b) work together to rescue any captain who nevertheless is about to be executed.

Chapter 12

Rankin manages to see what the French have been building inland: troop transports to be carried by dragons, capable of landing fifty thousand men in few hours. They all know the invasion must be coming soon, before the formations at Trafalgar return, but have a short period to prepare because the winds are unfavorable.

Through Hollin’s inexplicable absence, Laurence discovers that Levitas is dying from injuries he received escaping the French. Laurence drags Rankin out to say his goodbyes. Admiral Lenton tells Laurence that a Winchester is unexpectedly hatching, and Rankin will expect the opportunity even though he will see it as a step down; Laurence suggests Hollin instead, who is dazed and moved by the opportunity.

The next morning, the wind has shifted, and the Corps takes to the air. They are vastly outnumbered by the French dragons, and though they do some small damage—Lily kills one dragon with her acid, Granby boards and captures one of the dragons helping carry a transport, Maximus damages a transport on its landing—they all understand that they never had any real chance of stopping the invasion.

During a brief pause in the fighting, Temeraire understands that duty means that “we must still try, or we would be leaving our friends to fight without us,” and moves to attack another French dragon. He instinctively produces “a roar that was less sound than force, a terrible wave of noise so vast it seemed to distort the air before him,” which shatters the oncoming transport, to everyone’s shock. Temeraire severely damages two more transports—including the one carrying the French commanders—and the French retreat.

Epilogue

At a ball given in the aviators’ honor, Sir Edward Howe tells Laurence that Temeraire is not an Imperial but a Celestial, because the divine wind is exclusive to that breed. Because “the Celestials are given only to the Emperors themselves, or their nearest kin,” Sir Edward is concerned that the Chinese may take offense or demand Temeraire’s return, a concern that Temeraire dismisses out of hand.

Supplementary Material

The book includes some sketches of dragons (with humans for scale) by Sir Edward and excerpts from his writing, particularly regarding dragon breeds native to the British Isles and British breeding programs.

Commentary

So that was exciting! The final battle, I mean, not the Epilogue or supplementary material. More, it showed two intertwined kinds of cleverness that will recur: Napoleon’s in using dragons, and the series’ in pursuing alternate lines of history. Lord Vincent’s statement quoted by a character in Chapter 11, “I don’t say they cannot come, but they cannot come by sea,” is reported in sources from our history; but it raises the question in this history of whether there is another way they can come. Then tweak history to suit: the French still lose at Trafalgar, but now it’s a feint to draw off British air support from the Channel (and Nelson is wounded by fire from a Spanish dragon, not killed by a bullet from a French soldier, setting up things for later books). Add some plausible details like the French dragons scattering the militia on the ground to make room for the transports to land, or the transports designed so that the front unhinges like a barn door for instant mass rifle-fire on landing, and things look very convincingly bleak indeed before Temeraire discovers the divine wind. (There is a hint of his ability previously: in Chapter 9, during the French ambush, Temeraire “roared so tremendously that his body vibrated with the force and Laurence’s ears ached.”)

Let’s talk about characters, starting with the existing ones. Choiseul, Praecursoris, and Harcourt, together with Levitas, continue to highlight the question of the responsibilities dragons have to their humans, and humans to their dragons, and both to their societies. And, of course, the dragons’ reaction to Choiseul’s execution gives the reader an additional assurance, when Laurence eventually does commit treason, that the dragons aren’t going to stand for his hanging. (Granted, his being the sole POV character to that point makes it pretty unlikely!) I am preemptively a bit sad that Harcourt will be fairly unlucky in her romantic interests, but like the rest of the aviators, she has a full life otherwise and hopefully will be just fine. And poor Levitas! Rankin reappears in Tongues of Serpents and I do not look forward to it at all. We do get to see Hollin again in multiple books, being happy on courier duty with his Elsie, at least.

New character: Jane Roland, who I enjoy and admire immensely. She’s extremely competent and unselfconsciously confident, and she lives life to the fullest: I’m delighted that she gets the recognition she deserves in later books. (Someone write me fic where she and Olivier Mira Armstrong meet for some reason? I am positive they would get along like a house on fire. Their enemies’, naturally.)

Speaking of women that Laurence has been involved with to one degree or another: we hear in the epilogue that Edith has married Bertram Woolvey. Which will also end badly; are there any romantic relationships that are going to end well by the close of the series? Well, not that aviators tend to deathless romance, but as far as we know, Granby and Little are still alive at the end of Blood of Tyrants, at least.

Some minor notes to end:

If you like details, Temeraire is “not much smaller than the seventy-four-gun Agincourt” (Chapter 10), which was 176 feet long. (Edit: oops, that’s the wrong Agincourt, thanks to dadler in comments for pointing that out, and that Regal Coppers max out at ~120 feet.)

Laurence’s naval experience proves useful throughout the book: he can advise Admiral Lenton about the capacity of the transports, for instance, and mentor Emily when she’s worried about Jane and Excidium. I also find it very funny when, as a remnant of his training, he can’t stand to see Jane packing sloppily and does it for her at the start of Chapter 11.

Harcourt might be quieter than Jane, but she’s not meek; besides ending the fight with Choiseul, I love the anecdote of her fending off a jerk at a concert by “pour[ing] a pot of coffee into his lap,” because it was easier than getting up and having to rearrange her unfamiliar skirts “and anyway more like something a girl ought to do.”

That’s not everything about this book, but it is certainly more than enough. I enjoyed this vastly when I first read it, and I still do today. I look forward to hearing what you all think, and I’ll see you next week for Throne of Jade.

Kate Nepveu was born in South Korea and grew up in New England. She now lives in upstate New York where she is practicing law, raising a family, running Con or Bust, and (in theory) writing at Dreamwidth and her booklog.